Well, the day I've anticipated for the last 9 weeks has finally come. What a big sigh of relief. What joy and happiness. Yes people, my teaching practice is finally - it sure took long enough - over! Yippee!
It's been one rollercoaster of a ride, with its very own I-feel-the-air-up-in-my-brain highs and oh-no-I-think-I'm-going-to-puke lows. So here is a list of the compiled highs and lows:
The "Highs"- seeing a team from Form 4B winning a round of their debate against another (more experienced might I add) class
- realising I won't be teaching Form 4H in the final 2 weeks because they had their oral tests
- getting good reviews after my university supervisor observed my class with Form 4B
- the chicken nuggets, sotong balls and Excel drink purchased from the canteen on an almost daily basis (to a point where the canteen operator knew what I wanted before I could even open my mouth)
The "Lows"- Form 4H
- the reality finally sinking in that 9 weeks is a total of 81 days
- realizing that I might as well say goodbye to getting an A or an A- for this whole experiment gone wrong
So that's a summary of the last 9 weeks. This morning in itself was a high. I can't remember the last time I woke up with a smile on my face and a bounce in my steps. I remember the first thing I said yesterday when I woke up was "ONE MORE DAY!" and today was really the final day. Can you imagine me grinning even now? It's funny what something like that can do to your mood. So anyway, I drove out, picked up my fellow trainee and arrived at school. You really should have seen the glee in our eyes when the three of us trainees met. I assure you, their sentiments are just like mine. We just sat there in our chairs feeling the happiest we've been in the past 9 weeks. Then we were told that the first 2 periods today was for a prayer service, which meant that all the other periods for that day would be shortened from 35 minutes to about 25 minutes each. After the prayer service, I saw a group of Form 4B boys and I called one of them to bring up a box to their class. They asked me what was in the box (they tried to peek under the
Ikea plastic bag that I'd used to cover the contents of the box) and I remember someone yelling "Sugarbun!" excitedly. No, it wasn't Sugarbun. I told them it was garlic bread, and man, they went quite wild. Then they started to squabble over who would carry the box, all the way to the class. It was quite comical really. I entered the class and waited while all the students made their way back. As I waited, I realized there was some top-secret meeting amongst some of the boys. They were all standing in a circle at the back of the class, all obviously very excited about the thing they were surrounding. I tried to peek, but they literally chased me away.
So one by one the boys returned, and soon I managed to calm them down enough to tell them it was my last day there. They cheered. I wondered if they were happy for me, or happy to see me go. I told them that if it weren't for them, the past 9 weeks would have been plain torture. I also thanked them for being good when the class was being observed. In short, I told them they were one of the highs of TP. They cheered. Then I told them I had something for them. When they saw it was food, they cheered even more. A boy actually said something along the lines of "Waaah, you're giving us something? I thought it's supposed to be the other way around." The boys were really happy though, and at times, I almost thought some teacher would enter the class and scold me for disrupting the other classes' exams, my class was that loud. They looked really happy as they munched away, and some of them thanked me. Then I suddenly stopped and asked them: "Class, are you guys allowed to eat in class?" and with the most innocent expressions you will ever see on 40 boys, they all replied sweetly: "No." What can I say? Boys will be boys.
Somewhere into the second period, as I chatted with some of the boys who had gathered around the front tables, there was this sudden cheering, clapping and thumping of tables. I looked around, trying to locate the source of this mini-riot, when I spotted one of the boys holding up a big, bright green T-shirt. The class cheered as I took the shirt, and only then did I realize they had all plotted to give it to me as a going-away present (hence the secret meetings at the back of the class and the "No, you can't look!" earlier). They had scribbled a few words on it, all of them, and really I was very touched. I thought that as boys, this kind of sentimental ideas wouldn't even have crossed their minds. I stand corrected. Really, this is solid proof that boys can be thoughtful and sweet too. When the bell rung, the class stood up and gave me the loudest "Thank you, teacher!" that I have ever heard them give. It almost felt like the whole building reverberated with their voices. I was sincerely touched, although I do wonder what thoughts crossed the minds of the students in the exam classes. But still, I was happy. Really happy. Boys will definitely be boys.
The rest of the morning was spent in a sort of blissful daze in the staff room. There were photos taken (for the school magazine apparently), presents to give away (from us Unimas trainees to our school supervisors), and last-minute duties to perform (like telling the teacher where I'd stopped teaching, informing the Principal that we were leaving, and filling up forms). I even managed to squeeze in a little final visit to the school canteen to have a plate of nasi lemak and a cincau drink. And two little sticks of chicken nuggets, sotong balls, and chicken cakes. Think of it as a sort of farewell to the canteen. Teehee.
And so the
Great 9-Week Experiment came to an end at noon. When I finally got home, I paraded my green shirt around. I sat myself in front of the TV, and only then did I realize how exhausted I was. But all in all, I'm still really really happy that it's all finally over.
Happy Independence Day, everyone!
