I had a dream this morning. I took a cab from Jogja city. It was old rickety cab and as we were driving away, the driver said that Mt Merapi was erupting and we could see the red outline of the mountain in a distance. So I asked him to stop, got out to take a photograph of it. As i got out, the alarm went off. Wonder what the dream meant?
It has been a real topsy turvy in school with so many things going on and so many things to sort out. This Saturday there is a meet the parents session. Ahhhh my mind is so full, I dont even have time to think of what to say. Hai more updating later.

Well all in all a long and exhausting day but fun at times. The sec 4 classes I teach are just next to the staff room so I m there quite fast when the bell rings. Today my lesson was after the break and waited for abt 10 min for all the kids to get back. Abt four kids were already in class. I started the lesson 5 min after the bell. When the rest tried to come I told them to wait outside with an angry look. I continued with the lesson, gave the kids in class some work to do and then went to scold the kids outside. They were late coz they had been waiting for the lift. After that we continued with our lesson. They all complain I am trying to squeeze too much information into their brains in a short time. And after I finish the chapter they ask me “ What is weathering?” Some claimed they don’t understand anything to which I was quite unsympathetic as I felt that if they read the book or listened to me while I was explaining they would understand something and would be more specific about what they don’t understand. Its coz they each want indvl explaining which I simply can’t afford to do.
Then we were doing oxidation and I was talking about the mineral “iron”. They didn’t understand until one of the kids said “iron” emphasizing the “r” sound. So there was this little argument btw me and them on whether the r was silent. Then they said “ Oh only those people that are lazy don’t pronounce their “r”s. And one of them asked “ What do you call those pple that can’t pronounce “r”? And before I knew it , the word was out of my mouth “Chinese”. It took a few seconds for the reaction to come. They looked at each other open-mouthed and went “ But Miss, we are Chinese!” but they were good natured abt it and we continued laughing for quite a bit. ( It was funny as they had to actually look at each other to realize they were Chinese) Was talking abt it to another teacher and she dubbed it “ The Irony of Iron”. Still now that I think back, it wasn’t a nice thing to say. So will probably go back and apologize to the class tomorrow.
Had a marking workshop with the English teachers today – went quite except for the part where the ex-lawyer marked down a kid coz the story the kids wrote was unrealistic. The kid had written abt becoming invisible after taking invisible potion. He said “ Oh I have read a lot of sci fi and this is not realistic”. Its sad how sometimes we impose our perceptions on that of the students. Students go through many steps to get to a particular stage of competency and we as teachers have to recognise and nurture that.

I forgot to mention yesterday. We had the same problem we had the last year when we began last year. When kids are dropped off in the morning and picked up, a massive traffic jam is created which affects roads all round the school. The same thing happened yesterday and today - it was worse today as parents wouldnt just drop and go. They would linger and see how their kids were doing - all this plus very small roads near the school meant really bad jams. So today there was a proposal that the sec school start at 825 am and end at 4pm - all very good from the viewpt of waking up later in the mornings but a nightmare when going home as that is when all the office pple get off and by the time we all get home - the day is all but gone. We of course protested so now they have decided to stagger the dismissal times so different classes go at different times. Someone asked me why there was no planning before but thats the point - a very indonesian concept "Forget the past , like for the present and future? huh what future?" . This waters down to every idiosyncracy that we can observe around . They wait until the paper is finished to order more supplies. The concept of forward planning is indeed alien.

A new school year started today. The primary school was supposed to move out to a new building but as the building was not ready, they are staying put in the same building as us. That led to a hurried addition of more classrooms to the building and dividing bigger classrooms into smaller ones in a matter of days. A consequence, my form class this year get a brand new classroom. After rearranging the tables and chairs in class, there's actually more space in the class. Its a sec1 class again but a better lot this time. They all look real cute as they have just come from primary school and are still kids at heart. I asked them to come up with rules for the class and one of them said that if anyone speaks Indonesian they have to treat the whole class for lunch. A bit harsh i felt but lets see how it goes.
I also have a new lot of Sec3s and after going through all the rules and expectations of them, I saw all of them keep real real quiet. So i looked at them and said " You are all so quiet that you scare me" to which a boy quipped " You scared us, thats why we are quiet." Well from experience they wont stay quiet for long - its prob just the first day.

This week in school - we have been having preparing for the coming school term. So it means coming up with Schemes of Work and lesson plans. In the course of my work, I run into problems esp with teachers who are not trained and come from different backgrounds. Example no. 1 He is an ex br oadcast journalist and 55 years old. He has been in my dept for the past six months and is very opiniated. When I give handouts or worksheets as suggestions they are thrown away and not referred to at all. His idea of teaching kids is the communicative approach - talking and learning pronounciation. We discussed the scheme of work last week and I divided up the work of each term to each teacher to do. The first one he did was a disaster. This is after we discussed in detail and each teacher took notes on whats going to happen in the semester ( he did not take notes). Then I did a sample for him and other teachers to follow - u know splitting the unit into listening, speaking reading components and what activities they can do. He has to do Term 2. Today he gives it and its a whole rehash - and nothing subtantial - all abt talking abt this and telling this story and so on - nothing abt what they would have achieved at the end of the lesson. I have another teacher who is an ex-lawyer and he is just as bad - only comes up with a lot of experimental schemes to try with the kids but doesnt want to put in paper. These two are good friends - reinforcing each other's beliefs - they are the only non-trained ones in the dept. So I told the ex-journalist I will discuss with him tomoro abt the SOW. He said that I was making a big fuss over nothing and that he would devp the SOW as he went on. The other day the ex-lawyer said during the meeting that SOWs are totally unnecessary. So now I need to know how to deal with these two. Any suggestions?

We had staff meeting today and quite a bit of drama. There is an orientation this wknd for new students and they told us today and said it was voluntary for teachers to stay overnight. I had heard abt it last week but just told would not spend the night - there are abt 4 showers and 60 kids and i m not abt to get a sleeping bag just for this. So anyway when they announced - one new Singaporean teacher put up her hand and said that u must give advanced notice and pple already may have plans. She made a valid point but I felt for the guy who was in charge. He is local Indonesian and there is this culture here abt how to talk to people -- like when we want to tell them off esp in public have to say in nice way and all so when she questioned - the look on his face was like he had lost face - hai . Anyway our new Vp stepped in and ya it was late and he would take the blame for it . Next time we would get advance notice -
So after the meeting I spoke to the Singaporean teacher and said ya she had a valid point but the way she said could have been misconstrued. SHe was quite nice and went to joke with the local teacher to lighten the situation. Then the others and I had to do damage control with the local guy by explaining the teacher didnt mean to be rude - just was being direct.
Later was speaking to the local teachers and one person said that in the first few days after we came bk - the new Singaporean teachers seemed very direct and rude. You know the funny part? the person who made the comment is an Australian Italian - she has been here for 14 years. I dont know when I have made the transition from looking at it from a Singaporean's viewpt to a local viewpt but it certainly helps as when i want to push suggestions through - generally pple are more accepting. Singaporeans have a bit of bad rep here as we are seen as impatient and too direct and rude.

The first week is over. Phew never knew that a school that is just establishing itself would be so much work. Started off by just giving the SOW template for the teachers in my dept to do and before i knew the whole school is adopting it. And we did the school calendar today - haiya christmas break is only 2 weeks but we get 1 week for Hari Raya so thats quite good. Prelims for the sec 4s are so near and the syllabus is not finished. We are having extra classes this and next week for the sec 4s to catch and they are not at all in the mood. I was a little pissed off today. I had tonnes of work to do - namely the SOW and the organising of the dept and here i was trying to get something in and they switch off. I m going real real slow to make them understand. I gave notes on the three types of plate movement - went through, did a powerpoint presentation and explained. After that told them I would give a quiz today. Today three boys were absent and the rest didnt even look through the paper. All they told me was " I don't understand" . I lamented aloud that they could not get one page inside in one day - how are they going to put 2 books worth in 2 months? And this boy tells me " Help us, Miss" Well short of doing surgery and inserting the notes into their brain I am at a loss.

I had a quiet birthday yesterday. Had made corn kueh the day before to give to the teachers. Students no as I did not have any class yesterday. Went to school and found out the P's father had passed away. So was a little afraid the others might think me a little bad for celebrating in a way. But i already had brought the kueh and the teachers were quite nice abt it. My friend another geog teacher had left a surprise on my table when I reached school so that was very nice of her. Then after school went shopping with my husband and tea + dinner. It was a quiet celebration and was good to sit down and talk with hubby. I had a few sms and emails from friends and family. So I was quite appreciative of that. A few pple forgot. I was a little upset but then again hai i guess life just gets busy that we lose track of time and date. So its not like pple really dont like me or something.
Today had class with the Sec 4s. Was really not in the mood - so did a very light introduction and explained till they got it about what are plates and plate boundaries.
Later in the afternoon had a meeting where the VP was going through various expected things of the teachers. He was talking of sending papers to other schools for vetting to set a higher quality paper. Didnt quite agree with that - at least not until we reach a certain standard for the students.

You excel at Transfiguration. One of the most
dificult classes, you seem to be a natural at
turning a coke bottle into a homework pass.


Which Class at Hogwarts Would You Excel at?
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Right so I have been back so what have i been upto? Basically getting ready for school and watching all the vcds i got - havent finished all of it. But ok - hai the bad thing abt having long periods of hols is that now I dont feel like going back to school. Have to give a briefing to new teachers on how to teach English and its not easy - have been reading this book "The Practice of English Language Teaching" - kind of puts what i practise in nicer words. But I have left the reading a little late and I still have 5 more chapters to go. And then come up with material for the teachers. I would like to have the meeting on Monday when all the teachers come in but I have to get everything ready before that.
On a lighter note, I finished the Harry Potter book in about 4 days. Most pple I asked finished in a day or something. I did it with the last book and regretted it. So this time I read it real slowly so I could enjoy it more. Still some parts got me more excited and I needed to read it to get to the better parts. Verdict - It was good overall there were a lot of tied up ends and new things that cropped up to keep the interest going. I like that there is a lot of room for discussion. The part I like is about the DA. Really like the students taking things into their own hands. ( As long as it isn't against me). There are those that would scoff at me reading this book but i really dont care as I just love these books - they are some of the few that can really transport me to another world.