First few days at school
Yesterday was the first staff meeting where I met all the staff here at the school. For the most part, they seem very nice. It's pretty well the same as in Canada where some teachers are super organized and have everything done already, and some have no idea what they're going to do, and will probably go that way most of the semester. There are 5 teachers teaching data management, so I have to co-ordinate with them. They've all been here a while, so basically I'm just going to have to fit in to what they want -no problem with that. There is only one other teacher teaching the geometry course, and he really does his own thing. He said to me, "Do whatever you want, we'll talk when we need to come up with a final exam" -no problem with that. So, so far things look good. One thing about the teachers is that they all love it here, both the local teachers and the international teachers say it's a great place to live and work; so, a good sign I think.
Today, was orientation day for the students. As part of that, they had to write an "english placement test". They had to write an opinion paper: "In three or more paragraphs, do you think students should have part-time jobs". This essay is to decide how good their english is and what english course they should be placed in: university level, college level, or ESL. So, my job was to proctor this test for 30 students and then mark it according to a rubric. Well, there was some confusion and a bunch of teachers (or lecturers as we're called, here) along with their 30 students apiece ended up in a large lecture hall, myself included. Those of you that know my teaching style (I guess just my personality, really) know that I can't sit back in a room full of people and let someone else do the talking, so I guess I took charge. It was amazing. We were in a lecture hall with around 100 gr. 12 students. As soon as I started talking (and not even too loudly, it got dead quiet in there. It was crazy! No student uttered a word the entire time I talked. That hasn't happened even in rooms with 15 students back home. Granted, it was the first day of school, they were all disoriented, had no idea where to go or what to do, and were under the mistaken impression that I actually had something important to say. Either way, it was fun.
After the test, we had to take care of a few administrative issues like having them read through a book of rules and then signing a form agreeing to abide by them. When we were finished we had to go to an auditorium where they would be addresed by some bigshots at the school. We were, however, finished a little ahead of time and had about 10 min to kill. So I played a little math game with them. At first no one wanted to play; Initially I forced one of the other teachers in the room (a physics teacher) to play with me -after complaining about picking him becuase he was the most handsome, he did play; thus we demostrated the game to the students. It took a lot of prodding to get a student to volunteer to play the game, but after that, everyone wanted a shot to try to beat me. My point is that(I know, I know, you're thinking; finally!!!!), this was the very first time I had called on students in Malaysia, and I was surprised by the way they responded (although in hindsight, I should have expected it): When I called on a student, he or she would stand before answering. It was neat! In fact, the first student I called on stood up, walked down about 20 stairs to get to the front of the lecutre hall and then played the game with me at the front of the class. The next student was about to do the same thing, but I said, don't worry about it, you can answer from there. Every student did, however, stand before they answered.
Tomorrow is more orientation, and actual classes start on Monday.
Things happen super slowly around here. Well, actually they happen very quickly. What I mean is that nothing happens until the very last minute and then people rush to get things done. They expect to have about 600 students enrolled in the program. Only about 250 have actually enrolled. As such they don't have any class lists for me. They don't know how many students I'll have in each class. They don't even know what rooms I'll be teaching in. Apparently, I'll find out on Monday about 10minutes before classes start. This will take some getting used to.
I keep forgetting that I have a job to do and that classes start on Monday. I have some prep work to do! People around here don't ever seem to do much work (except for Manny, who I went to teacher's college with! Small world. There is another girl here, Elsa, who also went to school with us!), but somehow things get done. I'm going to have to find out how that works. Maybe my perception of things will change once we actually get into the semseter.
Other than that, it's still hot. It's still humid. I've been here for 5 days now and I'm having a lot of fun!
Today, was orientation day for the students. As part of that, they had to write an "english placement test". They had to write an opinion paper: "In three or more paragraphs, do you think students should have part-time jobs". This essay is to decide how good their english is and what english course they should be placed in: university level, college level, or ESL. So, my job was to proctor this test for 30 students and then mark it according to a rubric. Well, there was some confusion and a bunch of teachers (or lecturers as we're called, here) along with their 30 students apiece ended up in a large lecture hall, myself included. Those of you that know my teaching style (I guess just my personality, really) know that I can't sit back in a room full of people and let someone else do the talking, so I guess I took charge. It was amazing. We were in a lecture hall with around 100 gr. 12 students. As soon as I started talking (and not even too loudly, it got dead quiet in there. It was crazy! No student uttered a word the entire time I talked. That hasn't happened even in rooms with 15 students back home. Granted, it was the first day of school, they were all disoriented, had no idea where to go or what to do, and were under the mistaken impression that I actually had something important to say. Either way, it was fun.
After the test, we had to take care of a few administrative issues like having them read through a book of rules and then signing a form agreeing to abide by them. When we were finished we had to go to an auditorium where they would be addresed by some bigshots at the school. We were, however, finished a little ahead of time and had about 10 min to kill. So I played a little math game with them. At first no one wanted to play; Initially I forced one of the other teachers in the room (a physics teacher) to play with me -after complaining about picking him becuase he was the most handsome, he did play; thus we demostrated the game to the students. It took a lot of prodding to get a student to volunteer to play the game, but after that, everyone wanted a shot to try to beat me. My point is that(I know, I know, you're thinking; finally!!!!), this was the very first time I had called on students in Malaysia, and I was surprised by the way they responded (although in hindsight, I should have expected it): When I called on a student, he or she would stand before answering. It was neat! In fact, the first student I called on stood up, walked down about 20 stairs to get to the front of the lecutre hall and then played the game with me at the front of the class. The next student was about to do the same thing, but I said, don't worry about it, you can answer from there. Every student did, however, stand before they answered.
Tomorrow is more orientation, and actual classes start on Monday.
Things happen super slowly around here. Well, actually they happen very quickly. What I mean is that nothing happens until the very last minute and then people rush to get things done. They expect to have about 600 students enrolled in the program. Only about 250 have actually enrolled. As such they don't have any class lists for me. They don't know how many students I'll have in each class. They don't even know what rooms I'll be teaching in. Apparently, I'll find out on Monday about 10minutes before classes start. This will take some getting used to.
I keep forgetting that I have a job to do and that classes start on Monday. I have some prep work to do! People around here don't ever seem to do much work (except for Manny, who I went to teacher's college with! Small world. There is another girl here, Elsa, who also went to school with us!), but somehow things get done. I'm going to have to find out how that works. Maybe my perception of things will change once we actually get into the semseter.
Other than that, it's still hot. It's still humid. I've been here for 5 days now and I'm having a lot of fun!
posted by Leon at 5:09 PM
6 Comments:
So everything at your school happens at the last second, eh? That would be paradise for me... I could procrastinate all I want and it wouldn't make any difference! Make way Malaysia - here comes the Gabester! ;)
Wow small world Leo! Hmm and doesn't surprise me that you took charge. ;) What does is that these kids listened to you...obviously they don't KNOW you yet. haha. just joking! Glad to hear you're settling in and enjoying the food where it's not recommended for you to eat (Andy will be sooo happy to hear that). Just don't get food poisoning like I did in Korea. Keep your stories coming! I really enjoy hearing them! Miss you lots and take care,
Leon, glad you made it safe and sound... eventually. And as for the scenario of you taking command of a room full of lost people, no surprises there!! I was quite distraught that I didn't get to say a proper goodbye when leaving your place, but I will be checking your blog regularly to make sure you're doing alright. Those Malaysians won't know what hit 'em!
Leo....dude, PLEASE don't eat the stuff at the roadside stalls. You'll end up with E.coli, campy, salmonella, listeria, cholera, ameobiasis, or some other wacky illness transmited by fecal-oral route since the duders at the stalls probably don't wash their hands after doing a #2....... At least you got shots for all the other stuff that you could potentially get from eating at these things! Otherwise, glad you got there ok albeit a bit of a journey. Keep the blogs coming.
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Gabester!!!!! Glad to hear you're still alive! How long's it been? A few years for sure. Send me an email to let me know what you're up to! You are right: Malaysia was made for you! The only thing is, if you're still wearing shorts in the winter, I don't know what you'd be wearing in these temperatures!
Jane: sorry about the lack of a proper goodbye; You know I love you-Lah! (the Malaysians add Lah at the end of a statement as an extra emphasis). Glad to see you're reading the ol'blog.
Mr. Hong: I Should have known the health inspector would pull a line like that. You know me, I like to hear the be safe/healthy advice, but it's unlikely I'll heed the warnings. When I get sick, I'll look forward to a big "told you so" from you. Good to hear from you, dude!
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