present from a grandpa..

this article is dedicated to all teachers and teachers-to-be..

Teach My Grandson Teacher - Gently, If You Can

My grandson starts school today. It's going to be strange and new to him for a while, and I wish you would sort of treat him gently.

You see, up to now, he's been king of the roost -- he's been boss of the backyard. His mom, dad, and Grandma have always been around to repair his wounds, and soothe his feelings.

But now things are going to be different! This morning he's going to walk down the front steps, wave his hand, and start out on a great adventure... it's an adventure that might take him across the continent... it's an adventure that might incllude wars and strategy and sorrow.

To live his live in this world, will require faith and love and courage. So teacher, I pray you will take him by his young hand and teach him the things he will have to know.

Teach my grandson teacher -- but gently, if you can. He will have to learn, I know, that all men are not just, that all men are not true.

But teach him also, that for every scounderel, there is a hero.. that for every crooked politician, there is a dedicated leader. Teach him that for every enemy, there is a friend.

It will take time teacher, I know, but teach my grandson, if you can, that a nickel earned is far more value than a dollar found... teach him to learn to lose... and to enjoy winning.

Steer him away from envy, if you can, and teach him the secret of quiet laughter.

Let my grandson learn early that the bullies are the easiest people to lick.. teach him, if you can, the wonder of books... but also give him quiet time to ponder the eternal mystery of birds in the sky, bees in the sun, and flowers on a green hill.

In school, teacher, teach him it is far more honorable to fail than to cheat... teach him to have faith in his own ideas, even if everyone tells him that he is wrong... teach him to be gentle with gentle people and tough with tough people.

Try to give my grandson strength not to follow the crowd when everyone else is getting on the bandwagon... teach him to listen to all men... but, teach him also to filter all he hears on a screen of truth and take only the good that comes through.

Teach my grandson teacher.. but gently if you can, how to laugh when he is sad... teach him there is no shame in tears... teach him there can be glory in failure and despair in success.

Teach him to close his ears to a howling mob... and to stand and fight if he thinks he is right.

Teach him to scoff at cynics and to beware of too much sweetness.. teach him to sell his brawn and brains to the highest bidders but, never, never, put a price tag on his heart and soul.

Treat my grandson gently, teacher, but don't coddle him, because only the test of fire makes fine steel.. let him have the courage to be impatient... let him have the patience to be brave.

Teach him always to have sublime faith in himself. Because then he will have sublime faith in God and Mankind.

This is a tall order, teacher, but please help him if you can do. You see, he's such a nice little fellow... my grandson.

Teach my grandson, teacher.. but gently if you can.

Adapted by Thomas Halbert
taken from: http://friend4.tripod.com/bestari.htm

*happy teacher's day to all teachers nationwide..especially my teachers..SK Convent Muar, SMKA Maahad Muar, SBPI Mersing @ SM Sains Sultan Iskandar..lecturers at IPIK..n currently,my lecturers at QUT (perlu ke ni?bkn smbut pn kat sini)..papepn, thanks for everything you all have done..you all are the best!!

Seriously, I'm a TEACHER..

Smlm ari kedua saya mngajar kelas KAFA. mngajar students kira2 umur 4 thun smpai 12 thun..siapa kata mngajar tu mudah???? mmg silap besar la pnyataan tu.. u shud try before coming out with that statement..blm cuba, blm tau..hihi..mcm2 cabarannya..

1st nya cabaran mngajar budak2 kecil yg msuk tadika pn blm..hihi..ade sorg cute little girl ni..4 thun..smpai2 je nangis bila mummy dia nk tinggalkn..huh..1 hal pula nk memujuknya..bila part2 kena pujuk bdk2 mnangis je, my teaching team mates semua mmg x de kerja lain, msti disorongkan pd saya..entahla..mybe sbb ada 2 kmungkinan: prtama, sbb saya pn mcm bdk2, so blh 'masuk' dgn diorg cpt.. or kedua, saya ade wajah seorg ibu yg memahami cara nk pujuk bdk2 ni..(but i prefer the 1st one)..hihi..tp x pe,saya suka bab2 ni,x terasa mmbebankn pn..bukn sng nak pujuk bdk2 mnangis ni..lg2 bila tngisan tu brjangkit..mcm smlm la..bila sorg ni da nangis, kwn dia (pn 4 thn gak) pn nk nangis gak..mcm nk wat nangis berirama plak..hihi..bukn sng nk pujuk bdk2 ni..kna berfikir pantas n kreatif on the spot gak..nk kena cari idea yg 'masuk' dgn mereka..sbb mereka rasa x secured..kita kna buat mereka rasa secured n comfortable..cthnya la, smlm bila tanya 'do you like to learn?', tanpa fikir pnjg dia jwb 'no',then bila tanya 'do u like to draw?', dgn yakin jwb 'no'.. pastu try plak 'do you like to play?', dgn cpt dia jwb 'no'..aduhai..mati kutu saya wkt tu..nsib baik Allah bg ilham yg lain plak..trus ckp cmni..'i have something to show u..but before that, u have to stop crying 1st'..bdk2 mmg suka surprise2 ni..so,dia da mula slow, tp still muka nk nangis..cpt2 la saya keluarkn laptop,pdhal wkt tu x da idea pn nk tnjukkn apa..tp keluar je la kn..last2 tnjukkn dia gambr2 dkt gold coast dlu..gmbr kangaroo..gmbr koala..hmmm,last2 stop pn mereka mnangis..lega...tp ni bru before class..xstart mngajar pn lg..

ni la 2 students 4 thun yg sgt comel tu..

1st class start dgn kelas jawi n iqra'..sya kena mngajar level pling rendah..mostly yg pling kecil2..yg x tau pape, yg tau iqra 1 dan 2..tp basically, sya trlantik utk fokus pd students yg 4thn ni..ada 3 org semuanya..ni cbrn pling besar ni..mereka mmg x de idea lngsg ttg alif,ba,ta..hmmmmm...

bygkn tgh mngajar tu..tiba2 sorg dr mereka blh tunjuk kertas n pensil smbil ckp..'can u draw a ponny for me??'..huhu..pulak dah..hihi..kes lain plak..tgh dok2 mnulis jawi tu, blh plak mereka main rmbut kwn2..aduhai,mcm2 kerenahnya..bkn sng nk mngajar mereka ni..mereka sng sgt distracted..kna pndai tarik blik attention mereka..n teknik pling brkesan bg sya personally, kna pndai role play..haha..mcm2 watak sya guna wkt mngajar tu..smpai trpaksa jd kertas nk pujuk mereka tulis alif ba ta ats krtas tu..comelnya students ni..smpai kering tekak nk mngajuk suara2 yg blainan..tp alhamdulillah, sgala usaha rasa berbaloi bila by the end of klas jawi tu, 3 budak2 comel ni tau sebut alif smpai tha dan blh bezakannya..walaupn ada yg lukis huruf ba mcm rupa kapal, tp x pe la..at least ada rupa ba tu..ada juga la input..

sesi kedua plak, kelas pngisian..smlm topik tauhid n sirah..tp kali ni sya conduct kelas level prtengahan..kira ok gak la..tp still,xlari dr cabaran cuma cbrnnya lain pula dr bdk2 kecil td tu..1 perkara yg sya perasan, mybe sbb ddedahkn dgn culture sekolah d sini, blh dkatakan hmpir kesemua mereka aktif dlm kelas..sntiasa berebut2 nk angkt tgn mnjwb soaln wlaupn kdg2 mereka x tahu pn apa jwpnnya..yg penting mereka nk cuba juga..cthnya bila dtanya 'apa rukun iman yg keenam?' or translate bg mereka yg x faham melayu, 'what's the 6th pillar of iman?'..blh dkatakn semua mereka angkt tgn nk jwb..even yg pling pndiam skali pn..so,mcm2 la jwpn yg dberi..semuanya x betul pn..n even ada yg jwb 'owh, i know it but i can't remember right now'..haha..hal lain pula, bila dtanya soaln yg pdhal jwpnnya mudah n ringks je, blh jd jwpn yg mereka beri pnjg lebar, d kaitkn dgn pngalmn2 mereka..in a way, bgus juga mcmni sbb one of the effective teaching strategies is by relating the knowledge with students' experience..so,jd la meaningful learning..n insyaallah, lbh mudah melekat..hmmm,bla diingt kmbali zmn skolah dlu2, jarang jumpa situasi mcmni..slalunya klau kita x tau jwb,just diam je la..tngu la smpai jwpn yg betul dberi..hmmmm,berbeza mmg berbeza..

situasi lain pula,ni dceritakn oleh kwn sya yg mngajar kelas bdk2 level tinggi..pergh..mmg sgt kagum dgn mereka..mereka sgt advance n critical thinking..bygkn, dlm usia kira2 10 hingga 12 thun, mereka blh tanya soaln mcm 'how do we know that islam is the true religion?'.. 'how does Allah looks like?'..aduhai, nasib baik sya x mngajar kelas ni..mati kutu sya nk mnjwbnya..hihi..

ni pula students yg advance tu..

secara kseluruhan..mmg sgt2 la mncabar..pdhal baru 3 jam je..masih x blh bygkn mcmana bila jd cg sebenar lg..alhamdulillah, brsyukur sgt2 sbb d beri peluang utk dpt pngalamn mcmni..in a way, it helps me to get clearer idea of how teaching looks like..n it also helps me to improve my english(seriously, kagum sgt2 dgn english bdk2 nie..siap dgn accent lg..mmndgkn ada antara mereka yg x brapa fhm malay, trpaksa la kami mngajar in english most of the time)... mnarik bukan???

ni antara ustazah2 yg terlibat..my teammates..
(ada 2 lelaki n 1 prmpuan x de dlm gmbr)

I was born to be a TEACHER??

'da besar nnti saya nk jadi doktor.dapat byk duit'

'cita-cita adik nak jadi artis. artis glamor'

'aku nak jadi angkasawan bila da besar nnti'

Semua dialog ni common bila dtanyakn pd kanak2 ttg cita-cita mereka. saya pn salah sorg drpdnya. sejak kecil,kita dah ada impian ttg masa dpn. kadang2 ada juga ibubapa yg tolong pilihkn cita-cita utk anak2 mereka. pendek kata, manusia merancang ttg masa depan mereka. tapi kadang2 kita lupa bahawa Allah adalah sebaik2 perancang.

Sejak kecil lagi, saya x pernah terfikir utk jd cikgu bila da besar nnti. lbh2 lg cikgu English. tp bila dimuhasabah balik nostalgia2 lalu, saya skrg percaya bhw saya mmg seorang guru. byk je sbnrnya hint2 yg Allah dah bg, sama ada dlm sedar mahupn tidak.

Hint pertama, sejak kecil lg, saya suka main 'cikgu2' dgn adk2 sedara dan selalunya sayalah yg jd cikgu tu. ni kira 'role play' la ni. saya suka sgt bila mngajar.punya la semangat main, mcm betul2 je gayanya.

Hint kedua, bila nk exam kenalah study kan. n for me, the best way to understand certain topic is by teaching it to others. pendek kata, saya suka ajar balik org lain ttg topik tu. lmbt la masuknya klau just baca sendri2 je.

Hint ketiga,lps je SPM, saya di offer utk jd cg sandaran dkt skolah (sorg jiran saya kerja kat pjabat pndidikan daerah dlu). tp dgn sementah2nya saya tolak offer tu. mcm pelik je tetiba nk ngajar kat skolah. sgt la terasa diri x layak utk jd cg. so, bg alasan nk duduk umah dgn family, brapa thun duduk kt asrama, ni la time nk spend dgn family. ok fine, excuse accepted.

tp baru masuk 1 bln, da xtentu arah bosannya duduk di rumah. last2 my mum pn suruh pergi KL duduk dgn maksu. dia suruh tgk2kn adk2 saudara di sana. si kakak nak UPSR, si adik dlm drjh 5. minta tlg ajarkn mereka sikit2. ok la, da mak yg suruh, ikut la kan. maka dgn sendirinya terlantik la saya sbg 'guru tuisyen xbertauliah' mereka. nk djadikan cerita, dua2 ni skolah di private school, means skolah mmg dr pg sampai ke ptg. mlm bru tgk2kn mereka buat homework n bg latihan tmbahan. so, bygknlah apa nk dbuat spnjg waktu siang tu.

Hint keempat, memandangkan maksu pn memahami 'kelapangan' saya, dia pn offer saya utk jd volunteer dkt skolah adk sedara saya 'Khalifah Model School'. Nah, ni twrn kedua utk saya jd cikgu, xkn nk tolak lg kot. so, try je la. saya prnh co-teaching dgn cg2 sbnr n saya juga pernah gantikn cg2 tu mngajar. terus terang saya ckp, wlaupn sakit kpala yg amat stiap kali mngajar, detik2 kat skolah ni antara pngalamn paling manis dlm hidup saya.

Subhanallah, cantiknya aturan rancangan Allah. tanpa saya sedari, sbnrnya Allah dah tunjukkn bhw saya adlh bakal guru. itulah career terbaik utk saya walaupn pd awalnya saya masih x sure sama ada saya patut terus stay di UIA ambil law atau ambil TEFL di mktb. tp skrg saya pasti ni adlh pilihan terbaik.

So, pd sahabat2 bakal guru sekalian, jika anda masih rasa yg anda x layak jd cikgu, cuba ambil masa muhasabah diri. renung2kn apa yg dah terjadi dlu, pasti anda akan temui petanda2 yg sbnrnya anda memang seorng guru. setiap kejadian ada hikmahnya. wallahua'lam.