A Memorable Teachers' Day

May 16 has been a day that everyone in school looked forward to. It was the National Teachers' Day celebration. Students got a break from their mid-year exams, no lessons were conducted that day (a welcome relief for both teachers and students!), teachers could look forward to presents (possibly 'bribes') from their students, and last but not least, it was the only day that students could get away for being mischievous towards their teachers.

In Malaysia, students traditionally organise programmes for the Teachers' Day celebration, and the highlights are always the games or competition between the students and teachers. This is their only chance to make life 'miserable' for us, seeing that they have to endure a whole year of misery being dished out to them in the forms of exams, assignments and homework. Naturally, teachers are a bit apprehensive when they are invited for the games, but most of us set a good example by bravely taking up the challenges. Besides showing appreciation to the students for organising the events, this is also the only day that we get to be our silly selfs in school -- and get away with it!

This year's games in my school was both interesting and exciting. Many of the teachers took part in the musical chairs, telematches and tugs-of-war. Probably because of the fierce competition between the teachers team and the students team, the rope for the tug-of-war broke, not just once, not twice, but thrice! Looks like we need to get a new rope for our Sports Day next month... All in all, it was a few hours filled with laughter, silly antics and camera flashes, and the weather was merciful to us as well.

So, a hearty Thank You from me to all my students for making this an unforgettable day for all of us. We hope that you enjoyed watching our antics, and also hope that for the rest of the year, you won't drive us up the wall with your antics... well, of course you would, but just try not to drive us too far up, ok?

Preparing for a VIP Visit

In a teacher's meeting last week, the principal dropped the bomb -- the Director of the State Education Department will be paying a visit to our district, and our school might just be on his itinerary. In fact, there's a good chance he'll stop by, even for a quick visit. Given our school's reputation for having one of the poorest academic performances in the district, and the Director's enthusiasm in raising the academic achievements of all schools in Perak, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that he is more than interested to pass on some advice to us in person.

Naturally, the principal is very anxious to give a good impression to the Director, that everything's in order, and basically everything required of the school under the directives of the Education Ministry and the State Education Department are executed efficiently. Of course, every school will have teething problems that need resolving, and our school is none the different. Aside from having a majority of students who prefer playing around than studying, the school building also needs a facelift. Graffiti on the walls, empty noticeboards, faded mural paintings, bare and messy classrooms, dirty toilets, all these need immediate attention, or else we'll all risk a serious firing from the Big Boss himself...

But how to do all these during school hours when students are having exams throughout the day, now that it is the exam season? Mercifully, we had school yesterday, which was Saturday, to replace a school day that we would be applying for leave in conjunction with the Deepavali festival towards the end of the year. This replacement day was really a God sent. No doubt student attendance was dismal (normal for a school day on Saturday), but they provided enough manpower for teachers who needed them to spruce up the whole school.

In those 5 hours, from 7.30am to 12.15pm, the school was a hive of activity, with students running around holding brooms , mops, paint brushes, stapler guns, and surprisingly, even the principal himself rolled up his sleeves to paint a part of the school wall that was filled with graffiti. The principal, in full batik attire, painting?? I hope someone took a picture of this...

Meanwhile, teachers who were not cleaning up classrooms were busy with their paperwork, making sure school files were updated and complete. Nobody wanted to be singled out for sloppy work. I, for my part, spent the whole 5 hours cleaning AND updating my files. At the end of the day, I got sore and tired legs in exchange for a great sense of satisfaction. I had completed a lot of things put on hold for far too long. Well, in between classes, homework marking, meetings and co-curricular activities, there's little time left for other things! At least now I have peace of mind knowing that I've done what I was asked to do. I'm sure all my colleagues felt the same way after school ended yesterday -- tired but relieved.

Now, there's just one more thing to do -- keeping our fingers crossed that if the Director does drop by next week, he will be satisfied with what he sees -- or at least, he won't have too many things to criticise us on... fingers crossed, everybody!