Of Teacher's Room

Teachers room are like haven for teachers. That's the one place where we can do our stuffs or even catching up with each other (by catching up, I mean, gossiping😆😆😆😆). Well, at least that's the situation in most of the Malaysian schools.

However, things are quite different here in Sahwa Elementary. There are no one big teachers room, but there are a few teachers rooms mainly for the grade teachers and subject teachers. Remember when I said that there are only homeroom teachers and subject teachers here? Well, the homeroom teachers offices are in their own classrooms however, there is one room specifically meant for each of the grades homeroom teachers. The room is equipped with photocopy machine, desktop, printer and stationery stocks. Sometimes, the homeroom teachers for each of the grades will gather in that room to discuss about their grade kids and even what materials to use. Awesome, right!

As for the English and Mandarin teachers, there's another room for them to stay and work. Just like the grade rooms, these room are equipped with all the basic necessities including fridge, air-conditioner and heater. Even the principal and vice principal have their own rooms! The principal's room is the biggest since it has a meeting table and guests chairs, while the vice principal shares his workspace with the other subject teachers (Science and Physical Ed). We've got to go to his room to use coloured photocopier too!

I did mention that the homeroom teachers do not teach English, Physical Ed and Science. However, the case isn't the same for the Grade One teachers. They are tasked to teach everything except for English (since they only learn English in the 3rd Grade). Can you imagine that? Being with a bunch of 7-8 year olds for a day? I think I should be more grateful with what's given to me now 😅😅😅😅😅

Oh by the way, you won't see any kids carrying their teachers' stuffs in and out of the teachers' room here. Do you know why? I'll let you think of that answer yourself 😬😬😬

'till next time. Toodles!!

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Of Ewa Bule

Upon coming to Korea, I am being more conscious and aware of the worthy and unique arts and culture of my hometown; Kelantan. So, it is a great waste if I didn't debut any of them at Sahwa Elementary school. After hearing that our mentor is looking for a special Malaysia performance for her class exhibition, without any hesitation, both of us suggested Dikir Barat to be the highlight of the day besides joge t and Wayang Kulit performance. At first it seemed very farfetched and ambitious, but after hearing the kids singing the Ewa Bule verses, my heart felt very touched and then, I knew, we've made the right decision. Since I am not an expert, we refer to this dikir barat/choir performace of Ewa Bule by the UK kids. We showed the kids their performance and they were hesitant about it at first but as they rehearsed through the song, they finally gained some confidence. To be fair, we're still at the initial phase of the practice, yet we've got limited time to p

Of Random post

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Life post KOMTEP

Are you interested to see what my partner and I have done over our course in Korea? Click this link to go through the report

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Today, when we entered the first class of our last First Graders, I literally had a heart attack! The kids had sooooo much sugar in their system 😭 😭 And I thought that it would be just the same with the other two classes. Luckily things only got better and better. The second class was great but the third class for the day was even better. Just like they said, "End it with a bang!" We, literally felt like an idol signing up authographs for the kids. It all started with one girl. She came and asked for my autograph at first, but I didn't understand it. And then, he went to my partner and only then I understood her 😅 😅 😅 And the dominos chain reaction started there and then 🤣 🤣 🤣 # komtep2019

Of Farewell

3 months had flown by so quickly. I felt like it was only last week that I was posted here. It's finally time to leave and go back to where I belong. Thank you Sahwa Elementary for being nice to me. And thank you MOE, KME, UNESCO and APCEIU for this once in a lifetime opportunity. No doubt that I'll miss my 89 days here. There are so much that I didn't get to do but it is nothing compared to what I've gained. Once again, from the bottom of my heart, 고맙습니다 # komtep2019

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Of Rock, Paper, Scissors

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Of Scissors

Today was our second last day at school. So, in the morning, as I walked passed by the Sixth Graders classes, I asked them to write messages to us or Malaysia in general. And then, around 12-ish, one of the boy, who was quiet close to me gave me his card and left. Then, he came back, but with a pair of scissors this time. And then he gave me the scissors, with my name written on it (misspelled). I thought of why he gave me such present and then he said, "Think of my name when you see this". His English name is Caesar, but I kept making fun of him by calling him Scissors. Hence he gave me a pair of scissors to remember him by 😅 😅 # komtep2019

Of My first day at Korean elementary school

It was September 9th and we were still adjusting myself to the new environment. Regardless of feeling a little bit under the weather, I was indeed stoked of going to Korean school for the first time ever in my life. A lot of questions were playing in my head such as, "Will they accept me?", "Will we be able to understand each other", and so much more. Trying to get rid of the insecurities, I took out my camera and started to do a quick video on my social media - simply to let family and friends back home know where I was heading to that morning. We met our teacher mentor, Miss Song at the rendezvous place called GS25 (a convenient store similar to 7 Eleven in Malaysia). Our journey to school took about 10 minutes. We were surprised to see the welcoming banner that was prepared for us. That was indeed very thoughtful of them. No wonder our mentor teacher asked us what we would like to be addressed as. Upon arriving at the entrance, we were asked to take off our sh

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