It's Been a Long Time Coming

Sorry it has, once again, been so long since I posted an update. Enjoy the rambling about my school and the past month's happenings. Since the beginning of September, I have simply been chugging along in my school routines. Each day has its high and low points, but overall I’m still enjoying the school, students and Jakarta. There have been a few events over the past few weeks that have forced me to break my routines, and I’m going to tell you about them. 1. The first full week after returning from Bali, we were informed of the upcoming scheduled lesson observation by our Principal, our Head of Department, and one of the school’s base members. This wasn’t anything too nerve-racking since I knew when it was scheduled and I didn’t plan to do anything drastically different than I already had planned. The lesson went smoothly, and then I had the opportunity to get feedback from my observers. I know you’re just dying to know what they told me…you’re a horrible teacher, and you’re fired! Haha, just kidding. The most important lesson I learned was that I need to force myself to type out daily/individual lesson plans for each topic I plan to teach, because it makes me significantly more prepared for whatever may happen during class. Yes, it sounds like that’s something I would’ve figured out by now, what with all of the lesson plans I wrote in the School of Education, but it’s not easy to make myself write down more detailed lesson plans after I have already created the required weekly lesson plans. My proud, relief-filled moment was when my principal told me that she was pleasantly surprised with my teaching. That sounds really bad at first, but then she reminded me of the lesson I presented during the first week of the school’s induction program. Basically, I got super nervous and hadn’t been well-prepared. We were then warned that in Term 2 there will be an unannounced observation. 2. Next observation, oh yeah, two observations in two weeks! This time, the director of academics of the school came to observe all of the new teachers. Our vice principal set up the observation times, so I knew that he was coming in to see my 6th grade class. Little did they realise that I only have five students during that time, because I have the Maths pull-out group (the lowest academically-achieving Maths students in all of 6th grade). Apparently, after observing for one 30-minute period, he decided that he had seen enough. Once again, I hadn’t planned anything fancy, I just did what I always do. I found out later that he wanted to observe me once more, but in one of my classes with more students….”would that be okay?” The vice principal asked me, like I had a choice ☺ So, two days after the 6th grade observation, he came into my 4th grade class. It went well, and I was happy with the lesson (all except one girl who kept staring at the director and laughing, so she was even more distracted than usual). At this point, I have been observed in each of my three Maths classes. The next day I had my post-observation feedback, where the director asked me how I thought the lesson had gone. I, of course, responded that it had gone as well as I had expected. He told me that he noticed I have a soft-spoken person, and sometimes it might not hurt to talk more loudly during class. My immediate reaction (in my head) was ‘no. The students are loud enough on their own. I don’t need to add to the noise’. Quickly after his previous mentioned statement, he added that it might make more sense for me to just use my quiet signal more. By actually taking the time to wait for everyone to be quiet and paying attention with the quiet signal (which is the simple, yet effective ‘Give Me Five’ hand in the air technique) it will be more effective. What he said definitely makes sense, and I have noticed my impatience sometimes use my quiet signal. It’s worth it to wait for a minute or two (which seems like an eternity when I could be teaching) when it will ensure the students are paying attention, can hear and aren’t distracted. 3. This past week, we had a holiday (darn, another day off school) for Jakarta’s Mayor election. Danna, Nicole and I each got a massage, and then we sat around by the pool, even though it was quite cloudy. The week ended well, followed by a productive weekend of watching The Hunger Games and actually getting some of the schoolwork done that I brought home (that’s amazing for me, because I’ve been having a really hard time doing any work outside of school, and I’ve enjoyed being lazy at my apartment). This coming week will be a whirlwind. It’s the end of Term 1, so the students have a lot of tests, and then it’s Children’s Day on Friday (apparently, it’s a school holiday for Primary students only). The students don’t have to wear their uniforms, they can have a wacky hair day, and there are no academics for the day. What will we do all day, if we’re not teaching, you ask? First, we have an extended assembly (I don’t remember what’s happening for those 2 hours, but I just know that I’m not in charge of it), then we have a class party for a couple of hours (food, games, and fun…I’m also not quite sure what is expected of that, but I’m sure I’ll buy a little gift for each of my students), and then there are school-wide games for the rest of the day (and don’t forget about early dismissal!). Before then, though, we are supposed to finish all of our students’ progress reports for Term 1 (one of the many productive things I did this weekend, thank you very much) and submit their test scores (my students’ tests aren’t until Thursday, so that may be a bit rushed, but I’ll be able to handle it). 4. Last, but certainly not least, we get week-long break before Term 2 begins. A small group of us just booked our flight to Thailand! 5. Enjoy the beauty that is Fall! Each time I talk to my mom, she asks how the weather is, and my response is, “Mom, the weather is and will be the same all of the time: Mid 80’s and humid all day” (eventually some rain once the rainy season starts, soon, I think). Take a moment to appreciate the changing of the seasons, please.