I would like to thank all my students and teachers for making my teaching practicum a memorable and great learning experience. I wish all my teachers and students the best in their future undertakings.

P.S: I passed my teaching practicum. Yippie!!!

We also marked exam papers. I marked a total of 136 pieces of paper 1 and 2 General English, and 56 pieces of paper 1 and 2 English for Science & Technology. From these papers, I marked 68 summaries, 136 essays (each student wrote 2 essays as the requirement of the exam) for General English and 28 essays for EST. I spent two weeks of school holiday glued on my seat.

While evaluating their essays, I felt like I was going through a series of electrical shock whereby I was constantly shocked or surprised and thus realized how serious I need to be when I am teaching English. Students are weak in English because English is not a second language but a foreign or more appropriately alien language here. I also briefly went through the essay exam papers of Esther’s and Charles’ to get a better picture of this matter.

The main problem is that there is no environment for them to speak English except during English lessons. When we learn language, we need to use it to communicate so that learning the language makes sense in our brains.

The wholesome goodness of marking exam papers is it prepares me to teach my students. I know the proficiency level of my students as well as their needs. Most importantly, the activities that I was going to prepare for my lessons are suitable or easy (not too difficult or beyond their proficiency level). The idea is to scaffold them yet they still feel comfortable and do tasks or activities that are achievable. I won’t say I fully understand my students because that requires interaction and building relationships with them in a long stretch of time. I admit I still don’t fully understand them despite being there for two months.

The Gawai Dayak Festival was also celebrated during the school holiday. It is usually celebrated on the 1^st of June. The Gawai Eve is held on 31^st May where participants can witness the Miring ceremony performed by the headman of the village. The villages we visited during this festival with Pastor Wilson, Margaret, pastor’s mother and cute Dayang were Kampung Pueh and Kampung Sebat. Both villages are inhabited by the Bidayuh Selakos. We joined other people and ate together in their houses. They held open houses. Tuak (an alcoholic drink produced by rice fermentation) was not served to guests in respect of pastor.

Before that, we shook hands with all the hosts and took our seats. After the Christian prayer, everyone began to eat. Usually there are 10 or more hosts who prepared and served the food at one of the host’s house. This is a good way to collaborate and build friendships among friends and neigbours.

Kampung Pueh (Pueh Village)

After we had a hearty meal, the next round of guests will enter and continue eating the food served by the hosts. I do not know if this cycle is repeated for a few days but this usually depends on the hosts. Before we leave, it is a courtesy to go around and shook hands with the hosts as a sign of gratitude and respect. It is also compulsory to accept the food and drink offered by the hosts. Otherwise, one is considered rude.

The dishes that everybody looked forward to and devoured like hungry horses is the Ayam Panso and Ikan Panso. These dishes are prepared without using vegetable cooking oil. The chicken and fishes are put inside the bamboo and cooked near the fire. Salt, lemon grass and other ingredients are added into the bamboo. When you have eaten Ayam Panso, you’ll find Kentucky Fried Chicken can’t taste better than it.

A bowl of water is also served to the guests (shown in the above picture). It is for washing their hands after they had eaten.

Besides that, Kuih Tumpik (brown, circular and fried food shown in the above picture) and Lemang, a traditional food where the rice is wrapped in leaves is also served to the guests. At Kampung Sebat, the Lemang is served with rice wrapped in pitcher plant. Very creative. Yet they still taste the same.

We also learnt that the Selakos called Chinese as “Sebat” instead of “Cina”. “Cina” is deem rude. Both terms are fine with me.

We also celebrated Teacher’s Day. Visit Charles for more information.

Our school also celebrated Gawai Dayak Festival. The most unique event was, we had the rare opportunity to see the Bidayuh Selako’s traditional dances. These dances were taught by the headman from Kampung Serayan. We also get to see their unique and traditional costumes.

Photograph by Charles Cheng W. King

This festival was celebrated by the teachers, school staffs, students and their parents. It was held at the dinning hall. Delicious dishes are served especially the most mouth-watering dish – Ayam Panso.

Photograph by Charles Cheng W. K.

These are the dancers who performed the rare and unique Selako (or Bidayuh Selako) traditional dances. Their costumes were beautiful.

We were very lucky to be able to witness these traditional dances. These dances were not performed at Sarawak Cultural Village.

The most interesting food I found that day was this.

The rice (white rice or specific “Kampung rice”, that is, rice planted and harvested at Sematan villages) was wrapped in these leaves. These leaves gave the rice an aromatic fragrance and one can actually taste the sweetness of the leaves in the rice. It was beautiful. I forgot what this is called and the name of the leaves. There are two types of leaves used to wrap the rice. This is so unique. I didn’t know that rice is not only wrapped in banana leaves!

Of course, not forgetting that I was observed and evaluated six times in 1 month! It was a stressful and hair pulling month. I’ve got to meet my lecturer and teacher counselor’s expectations and hope that things go well during my lessons.

That’s my lecturer evaluating me. He was writing comments and marks during the observation. My teacher counselor was also evaluating me at the same time.

I would like to say a big thank you for the support and guidance from my teacher counselor, Mr. Cosmas Oh and my lecturer, Tuan Haji Zakaria. With your guidance, I have made improvement in my teachings. Thank you so much.

Our school also had Academic Day. It was a success. This was the day teachers and parents met to discuss about the conduct and performance of students in school. Student attendances were compulsory.

Many parents turned up that day. All the seats at the dining hall were taken and parents had to stand outside but near the dinning hall to listen to the speech given by our school administrators.

At urban schools, only students who had failed their subject papers in exams were compulsory to attend Academic Day with their parents. In this school, attendance is compulsory for all students. Many parents were also present in the schools. This is a positive sign.

After the speech, parents and students met with the form teachers to get their children’s report cards. Teachers will inform parents about their children’s performance in school.

Photograph by Charles Cheng W. K.

[The lady in pink is Teacher Margaret Choo. She represented the form teacher of 4B who was absent that day. She was giving advice to Annete and her father. The girl sitting next to the teacher in the class assistant of 4B named Azyrn. Both Annette and Azyrn are Selakos and lived in the hostel. It is compulsory and a custom by all the hostel students go home during the weekends. They have very strong and intact relationships with their families. Thus students still go home even though it is only for one day.]

The majority of students in the classes I visited had their parents or guardians present that day. Hostel students also took their parents to see the hostels that they are staying.

Photograph by Charles Cheng W. K.

Parents and students inside and outside the classrooms. They were waiting to meet the form teachers.

I was surprised with myself when I entered the classes I taught and shook hands with all the parents. It was a natural instinct. I informed them that I was their English teacher and I am a teacher trainee here. I also asked my students about their exam performance in other subjects. And I did know more about my students that day.

And finally the day came when observations were over. The cloud had passed. I breathe a sigh of relief. I taught my classes with an air of calmness over the next few weeks before my practicum finally ends.

I also took 34 students on a trip to the Sarawak Cultural Village. This event will be featured in another post.

Charles, Esther, me and Teacher Lim Siew Hoon.

Photograph by Teacher Yeo Nga Ping

Before we make a permanent departure from SMK Sematan, we had dinner with our principal, Mr. Ivor Lim, our principal assistant, Miss Lim Siew Hoon and Miss Yeo Nga Ping, a Science teacher. It was a combination of hearty and sad meal. I feel sad to leave this school but also feel compel to return to university. We need to register and continue with our TESL courses.

Nevertheless, it was a great learning experience and we will never forget the lovely memories we share with this school and everyone in this school. Once again, we would like to thank all the students, teachers and staffs for making SMK Sematan a great learning experience and joy for us. Thank you!

* The End *

Pandan Beach

We visited Pandan Beach. Esther was so happy when she saw the beautiful blue sea. The main problem about Sematan and Pandan Beach (not sure about Pueh and Siar Beach) is littering. Asians love to litter anywhere and anytime. And despite the place (seaside) being litter with rubbish, they still enjoy going there to have picnics, barbeques, games and swimming. They can just sit near a heap of rubbish, lit a fire and watch sunrise and sunset. Ironic. *Sigh*

Charles and Esther were enjoying themselves swimming, collecting shells and building sandcastles. I walked around exploring the beach and took photos.

Aerobic Exercise in conjunction with the Celebration of Teacher’s Day @ SMK Demak Baru (10 May 2008)

We attend this event at SMK Demak Baru. Charles even took the initiative of finding the location of this school via Google Map. Thanks Charles. It made me realize that being a teacher gives me endless boundaries to explore my interests or strengths. For example, if I like writing and producing plays or dramas, I can coach the school team in the play or drama competition at inter-school level, division level or national level.

We met our coursemate, Nora Sahari, who was having her teaching practicum at this school. She and our principal took part in the jogathon. Our principal won the consolidation prize. He was the 5^th runner to finish the jogathon. I am very ashamed of myself. I’ll definitely “kaput” 20 minutes after I start running

We also did poco-poco. I showcased my terrible static and mechanical movement in contrast with the agile bodies of other teachers. They could tell I led a sedentary lifestyle. Well, I made a lot of mistakes but enjoyed the fun.

Photograph by Cikgu Junaid

(Cikgu = Teacher)

A Visit to Kampung Selampit

During the school holiday, Esther and I visited Kampung Selampit (Selampit Village). To reach this village, we took a ride in a boat. Pastor Wilson and his wife, Margaret took us to see a football match held at the village. This is their lovely and beautiful daughter, Dayang. She’s 11 months old. This photo is taken when she’s 9 months old.

She is a jolly baby. We stopped at a little town near the village. I forgot the name. And took a boat to the other side of the river. Riding in a small boat called “Perahu” is a new experience for me. Each of us was charged RM0.20 per trip except Dayang.

The football match was held in a primary school’s football field. I forgot the name of the school too. We saw four teams competing against one another. Pastor Wilson played football on that day too. All the teams had their own uniforms. The members were very proud of their teams too.

We also walked around the kampung (village). Perhaps getting an idea about the environment that our students grow up in. And thus, perhaps, allowing us to understand and relate to them better. In short, it may help us build good students-teacher rapport.

The villagers are mostly Bidayuh-Jagois. Water and electricity are available at their homes. However, some of them prefer to bath at the nearby river. The houses are built very close to one another. Roads are narrows. People went around on foot, motorcycles or bicycles.

Some of the villagers planted fruits and vegetables near their houses and sell them at the markets or roadside to earn a living.

Rattans or bamboos are also used as laundry lines. This road (in the above picture) leads to the end of the village and to the river.

We also saw several of this bird species being kept in cages as pets. They are like parrots. You can teach them to say phrases or words in your language. They greeted us in Bidayuh, Malay and English. Amazing.

The villagers caught these birds in the forest.

I also learnt from Esther that this area (the open space where they hang their laundry, outside the door) are found commonly in houses at villages. It is called “Tadur” whereby any activities that involves the participation of many people or require open space for example cooking are done at the “Tadur”

This trip is an eye opener. It allows me to gain a little bit of understanding about the lives of the people here.

* To be continued.

Before we (Charles, Esther and me) began our teaching practicum, we made an appointment and met with the principal, Mr Ivor Emmanuel Lim Ho Huat and principal assistant, Miss Lim Siew Hoon. This is an act of formality. We also introduced ourselves to the school authorities. After the meeting, we visited Sematan Beach to enjoy the cool breeze.

Photograph by Charles Cheng W. K.

Esther & me at Sematan Beach

After our final exams and hectic deadlines of assignments, we began our teaching practicum. The first week was observation week. We entered the classroom and observed how teachers taught students in English lessons. This is important as it will give us an idea on how to teach English and what possible scenarios we shall encounter when we start teaching the following weeks.

The roads to Sematan are long, curvy and winding. It took us 2 ½ hours to reach our destination. Sematan is 106km from Kuching. It is 123 km from UNIMAS, Kota Samarahan.

It is very dangerous to drive on the roads when it is raining. And you can actually touch the clouds with your hands because the clouds are very close to the ground level when it rains. It’s fascinating.

If I am really bored, I could just sit down and watch the clouds hover at the mountains when it is raining. And look at how clouds form and disperse. If I’m really crazy, composing a lousy poem about it isn’t a bad idea either.

House No. 9

We are also very grateful to the staffs and teachers of SMK Sematan for offering us accommodation. We stayed in a Malay stilt house. This house is well ventilated, had three bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom, a toilet and a living room. Curtains, mattress, pillows, bedsheets, floor mat, floor rugs, buckets, brooms, dining table, chairs and cupboards are provided.

When we got here, the first thing we did after unloading our luggage and stuffs, is to visit the Sematan Town (Pekan Sematan). It’s a very small town. It made us felt homey. Everything is within walking distance (if we stay at the town). It took us approximately 1 km to reach the town from our school.

This town is usually busy during the weekends because many Kuchingnites will come here to visit the beach for picnics or just savoring the seafood. Sometimes, these people’s actions strike a question mark in my brain. Some of them look like they had never seen the sea or it was the first time they saw the sea. Thus, I sometimes find them amusing.

The jetty is located near the town. The local people love fishing. Many of them like to go to the jetty to fish everyday. There are many fishes for them to fish. Probably fishing is a good activity to extend their social networks too!

I’m not very sure but I heard (and think that it is logic) that it is a shorter distance to take a boat from Sematan to Kuching. People also go to the jetty to take a boat trip to Teluk Melanor (Melanor Lagoon) or the nearest Indonesian town at Kalimantan.

Photographer: Unknown. Copyright of SMK Sematan.

I found this photo named Teluk Melanor in the school’s desktop.

Photo taken of Sematan Town from the jetty in the evening.

We visited Sematan Beach again. (We also saw sand thefts.)

Photograph by Esther L. Padan

Photograph & written by Esther L. Padan

We went to Waterfall No. 1 at Mount Gading. It took us 45 minutes to climb the mountain before reaching our destination.

This is Mount Gading Waterfall No. 1. Waterfall No. 3 and 7 are more beautiful than this waterfall! Each of us paid RM5 (student fare) as entrance fee to the Mount Gading National Park. The normal fare for adult is RM 10.

(Gunung = Mount)

Mount Gading is the highest mountain among the four mountains. Her neighbours are Mount Sebuloh, Mount Perigi and Mount Lundu.

Other main attractions are visiting Waterfall No. 3, Waterfall No. 7, Old Man Rock, Fortress Rock, Sitting Rock, Rock Well and a British camp at the summit.

One unique building I like seeing is this Bidayuh house. I like the architecture. Very unique and natural.

This house is used as the administration office of this park. Hostels and chalets are also available.

There are other waterfalls that did not require climbing the mountain. There are many waterfalls around Lundu and Sematan. The nearest is Sebat Waterfall located at Kampung Sebat (Sebat Village). I can’t remember the names of the other waterfalls. There’s a hot spring called Paku Hot Spring too.

* To be continued.

(= Sematan Public Secondary School)

This is a big school. There is a lake located outside but near the school compound. We went to look for it. And what we discovered was this. We think it’s a pond. Maybe we didn’t find the lake.

We didn’t arrive at the right time. This picture will be lovelier if the lotus flowers are in full bloom.

Photograph by Charles Cheng W.K.

This is the administration building. Below is the school office. Teachers and students usually enter the office to see the principal, assistant principal, discipline teacher or do some administrative works. Upstairs is the staff room.

This is how the staff room looks like. There are 82 teachers in this school (correct me if I’m wrong). This school has morning and afternoon sessions. The total population of the students is between 1500 – 1550 students.

The staff room has a rich and variety of teaching materials. There are many charts, realia (e.g. globe), diagrams, printed worksheets, workbooks, dictionaries and reference books for all the subjects.

Other teaching materials such as the manila cards, mahjong papers, chalks, marker pens, transparencies, paper clips and other stationeries are also available. Teachers can also borrowed laptops and LCDs from the technicians. All the classes have “white screens” used to display images from the LCDs.

We helped laminate the self-access learning materials (SAL). This was done in two days. The SAL materials were laminated so that they are more durable and reading the papers will not be blurred compared to reading the papers wrapped in transparent plastic papers.

We and our students organized, inserted the papers in the films and laminated approximately 400 pieces of papers. We would like to thank our students for helping us. Thank you so much!

Photograph by Charles Cheng W.K.

This is Block A. All the form 3 and form 5 classes are in this building. There is a lecture hall and counseling room on the ground floor. On weekdays, every night the hostel students will be studying (they called it private study) in the classrooms. If I’m not wrong it should be from 7.30 p.m till 9.30 p.m. This is compulsory for the hostel students.

This is our school’s new canteen. It is close on weekends. It opens from 7 a.m. till 11 p.m. on weekdays. They also cater to the needs of the hostel students.

Currently, there are two four-storey buildings in construction. Students will be having new classrooms next year. The buildings will be completed at the end of this year.

The most unique physical feature of this school is the bridge. Without this bridge, teachers and students cannot go to the other side of the school. Hostel students and teachers walk across the bridge to attend and return from classes.

The pink building is the dinning hall. Many events have been held in this hall. The most recent events are the education fair, Academic Day, Gawai Festival celebration and Teacher’s Day. The Christian meetings and prayers (Roman Catholics, Methodists, Sidang Injil Borneo or SIBs, Veterans, Anglicans, etc) are held regularly (every fortnight) in this hall.

Christians meeting

Photograph by Charles Cheng W.K.

This is also the place where the hostel students had their meals. Usually, they prefer to eat outside the hall. They prefer to sit on the ground with their friends. It’s merrier.

(The tall buildings are the teachers’ apartments. They are newly built too. )

There is also an unfinished mural paint at the dining hall. When we first came here on our official visit, we saw teachers and students painting the mural together. This scene is seldom seen at urban schools.

This dinning hall is located in the middle of the male and female hostels. There are archery, basketball and football fields near the hall. The girls’ hostels are located on the right side and the boys’ hostels are located on the left side. And both hostels are near the teachers’ apartments. This is good to maintain privacy between male and female hostel students. Most importantly, teachers living nearby can monitor them too.

Female Hostels

Our school also has a camp. The camp is called “Kem Waja Diri”. This camp trains students on their leadership skills. Many schools come here to have their leadership camps too. Our 3 friends who are teacher trainees from SMK Batu Arang had leadership camp for prefects and class monitors here. There are many camps at Sematan. SM Sains Kuching had their camping activities at Camp Pueh.

This is the green scenery we saw everyday in school.

Our school has two computer laboratories. They are called “Makmal Bestari”.

We took this opportunity to play a movie for our beloved students. We invited our students to watch the movie entitled “School of Rock”. Students loved the film because they can relate to the story and it is about rock music. They had a great time laughing and enjoying themselves in the sweet air condition room.

We had a hard time choosing the most suitable movie due to our students’ needs, their world knowledge and their English proficiency level. They might not understand the movie if they perceived the content and culture in the movie as foreign or alien. The purpose of playing a movie is also to expose students to English and to show them how the characters in the movie use English in their environments. Only English subtitle was displayed throughout this movie (Many students do not have TVs at their homes too).

At first, we wanted to show “The Phantom of the Opera” movie because the language is more formal and students can see the characters dance and sing. It would be attractive and fascinating for them. It might be the first time they’ve seen a musical movie with such grandeur. However the movie duration is too long (3 hours). Hence, we chose this movie.

Our school also has many notice boards. We decorated this notice board under the theme “Global Warming” which is in the English and English for Science and Technology (EST) syllabuses. It took us three hours to paste all the reading materials on the notice board. The materials are taken from the Internet, National Geographic, Time and Newsweek.

Lastly, I hope this will give you a brief idea about our school.

Back in campus.

Yesterday, there was a long queue at the payment counters. Luckily, we were spared from the RM50 penalty fee because we had practicum. This fee was charged to students who had registered late.

Those who were present yesterday were mostly scholarship holders or paying the fees on their own. I was there to obtain the reference number that I can use to register via online. Unfortunately the server was down.

Thank goodness! Four counters were opened that day.

In short, it was a very hectic and troublesome day. I had finally managed to register myself today. That is, going to the department in charged of undergraduates and being told that they don’t need the reference number. And going to see our lecturer who is the head of the education courses to certify that we are indeed undergoing practicum during the inter-semester break.

It is incredible that the ideal duration for registration should be approximately 10 minutes but could take me two days to get it done. But I’m glad it’s over.

I haven’t had the time to update my blog. Meanwhile, visit Charles about our teaching practicum.

 

Too economical.

Charles, Esther and I visited the school where we shall be conducting our teaching practicum. Sematan is surrounded by mountains and the South China Sea. Students come from places as far as Biawak and Teluk Melanor. The principal, assistant principal, teachers and staffs are very friendly. We were well received.

There are 1600 students in this school. 600 of them stay in the school hostels. The population of students are made up of 60% Bidayuh Selakos, 30% Malays and the others are Ibans, Bidayuhs, Larus and Chinese. The occupations of Bidayuh Selakor are mainly farmers whereas the Malays are fishermen. The Chinese are shopkeepers or manage the fruit farms.

It was a well worthy trip. We were very impressed and happy during our visit. We look forward to our stay here.

I’m back in Kuching. I’ve managed to ask my father if he had a camera flash. And he gave me this.

I’m sad as my father and I seldom communicate on the phone and while I’m home. He always forward my calls to my mother in less than two minutes. It can be tiring when I always have to figure out a topic to start the conversation.

When I was a child, my relationship with my father is based on fear and authoritarity. Now, it is based on respect and filial piety. I could vividly recall being canned by my father because I vent my anger in front of him. It is considered disrespectful. He taught me and my brother how to read by pointing at the vocabulary with a rattan stick. I was so scared that I cried when I forgot how to write my middle Chinese name.

I grow up to realize that canning is not a permanent solution. It was effective in the past but not now and the future. Instead canning can be equated with feeding poison to the child. Unhealthy and negative emotions like vengeance, anger, revenge and so on may result in unhealthy emotional development.

Anyway this flash is an analog.

The manual was discarded. But we’ve got the Internet!

I can’t believe it still works! Even with Nikon D40x!