One of my biggest regrets at work: When I was a supervisor, I was asked by H& R - through my boss - to video tape some of our classes. The purpose was for trainee teachers to be able to look at and discuss the different ways of teaching. It sounded like a good idea, right? So who would be the lucky teachers? We decided to draw a lot. Then an idea came to take the videotaping more 'beneficial'. Why not tape some 'good' teaching and some 'bad' teaching?
I nominated my teachers, including the 'bad' one. I went as far as asking his permission to tape his class, without mentioning the good and bad issue.
Looking back now, what a mean, insensitive, wise-ass I was. Who was I to judge anybody? What if the coin was turned and I was the 'bad' teacher? And somebody asked to video tape my class so that trainee teachers could learn what not to do?
What IS a bad teacher? Some teachers prepare for hours, others like to think on their feet. Some teachers are quiet and reserved, others are funny and boisterous. My teacher prepared his lessons. He didn't treat students like shit. He didn't abuse or harass anybody. And I was out to humiliate him. In fact, I was so insensitive I didn't think about the effect on him. Horrible.
Good thing the teacher was smart enough to smell the rat. He didn't give me permission to carry out my stupid mission.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Monday, October 29, 2007
Floriade
Nothing special happened in Canberra. We drove a lot. Got lost a lot. Saw several dead kangaroos by the roadside. Sample foods at cafes and stalls. It was fun. That's it.
The Floriade this year? It was OK. A bit sad, because of the drought. The tulips were not as happy as two years ago. Many plants were in much need of water.
The Floriade this year? It was OK. A bit sad, because of the drought. The tulips were not as happy as two years ago. Many plants were in much need of water.
Collector
Went to Canberra a few weeks ago. About halfway to Canberra we almost ran out of gas. We drove for miles without air conditioner. The tank was very close to empty when we saw a sign for a gas station. We made a U-turn and turned into a small town called Collector. Population 150, according to the signboard.
The gas station was next to a small diner plus information centre plus public toilet.
The gas station was next to a small diner plus information centre plus public toilet.
I checked out the surrounding while my friend filled the car's tank. A few meters from the diner there was a quiet, green meadow. A cockatoo flew by the green trees but I didn't have time to take photo of it. There was also a small stone monument with Lest We Forget written on it and the names of soldiers who died in war. Very well placed, I think. It's been a long time since I visited a place that invoked such feelings of peace and tranquility.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
My First Students
My first student was a mistake. I went all the way to Pasar Baru, found the posh house, and met my student. She was a uni student. I thought I was going to teach her English. She thought I was going to teach her Accounting. COST @#$*@ ACCOUNTING!!. I told her that that was not my area of expertise and that she was probably better than I was in Accounting. I went home and called the agency and asked them to assign somebody else.
My first real student was young Taiwanese girl. She went to an international Kindy. She was as chatty as chatty could be. She spoke Mandarin, Indonesian, and a little Javanese (from the maid). When mommy was not around she ordered the maid around like a princess. Most of the time she taught me songs from her Sesame Street Book. We played with her Barbie dolls a lot. Mommy said that her pronunciation improved a lot after I tutored her, so I was quite happy about that.
My second student was an elementary school Korean boy. I was supposed to help him with his homework. He wasn't interested in doing homework. He usually drew comic strips throughout the lessons and then told me the story, in broken Indonesian. I'm sure he improved a lot in speaking ... Indonesian.
My third student was a bit older than the others. Since didn't ask me to play with his toys or read his comics, it was much easier to teach him.
All three of them lived quite near from my house (+/- 30 minutes) by bike. Yep, I rode my bicycle to their homes. (I didn't learn to ride a bicycle until I was a uni student. But that was another story.) The job kept my quite fit.
My first real student was young Taiwanese girl. She went to an international Kindy. She was as chatty as chatty could be. She spoke Mandarin, Indonesian, and a little Javanese (from the maid). When mommy was not around she ordered the maid around like a princess. Most of the time she taught me songs from her Sesame Street Book. We played with her Barbie dolls a lot. Mommy said that her pronunciation improved a lot after I tutored her, so I was quite happy about that.
My second student was an elementary school Korean boy. I was supposed to help him with his homework. He wasn't interested in doing homework. He usually drew comic strips throughout the lessons and then told me the story, in broken Indonesian. I'm sure he improved a lot in speaking ... Indonesian.
My third student was a bit older than the others. Since didn't ask me to play with his toys or read his comics, it was much easier to teach him.
All three of them lived quite near from my house (+/- 30 minutes) by bike. Yep, I rode my bicycle to their homes. (I didn't learn to ride a bicycle until I was a uni student. But that was another story.) The job kept my quite fit.
Reading an old friend's blog brought back a lot of memories. Nine years of my life I spent in LIA. I've got a truckload of memories.
This was how it started: When I was a kid, the future had always looked bleak, with my father being ill and me caught up in growing pains and all. Then my father died. Then I finished high school. I wanted to study English. That's one thing I knew I was good at. But I didn't know what kind of job I could do if I chose English. I didn't want to be a school teacher. My own experiences at school kind of turned me off teaching. My brothers and sister were already working. They would pay my uni tuition. So I thought the sensible and responsible thing would be to choose Accounting as my major, even though I couldn't put two and two together without a calculator (I still can't).
I spent four and a half years studying something that I had no interest in. I actually did okay. I got some A's and B's here and there. I got a job as a finance staff (3 months) an accounting staff (3 days). I hated those jobs. I was a disaster at work. Then for months I was jobless, while my friends from uni had started building careers and making money. I felt like a total loser.
One day I read an ad in the newspaper. Private Tutors Wanted. I gave it a go. I went to the agency's 'office'. It was far, far away in old Jakarta, which I had never been to before. It wasn't much of an office at all. Just an old, dark, dingy place on the second floor of a house. There was an old, roughly made table and several long wooden benches. There was one lonely yellow light bulb hanging from the ceiling. There we were, a bunch of teacher hopefuls, getting a briefing while somebody was cooking and minding the kids downstairs. A few days later I received my first assignment. I got paid around Rp 10.000,- per visit (around Aus $1 and 20 cents). On one hand, the pay made me feel like a loser still. On the other hand, I was very happy to get a job, any job, after months of being unemployed.
This was how it started: When I was a kid, the future had always looked bleak, with my father being ill and me caught up in growing pains and all. Then my father died. Then I finished high school. I wanted to study English. That's one thing I knew I was good at. But I didn't know what kind of job I could do if I chose English. I didn't want to be a school teacher. My own experiences at school kind of turned me off teaching. My brothers and sister were already working. They would pay my uni tuition. So I thought the sensible and responsible thing would be to choose Accounting as my major, even though I couldn't put two and two together without a calculator (I still can't).
I spent four and a half years studying something that I had no interest in. I actually did okay. I got some A's and B's here and there. I got a job as a finance staff (3 months) an accounting staff (3 days). I hated those jobs. I was a disaster at work. Then for months I was jobless, while my friends from uni had started building careers and making money. I felt like a total loser.
One day I read an ad in the newspaper. Private Tutors Wanted. I gave it a go. I went to the agency's 'office'. It was far, far away in old Jakarta, which I had never been to before. It wasn't much of an office at all. Just an old, dark, dingy place on the second floor of a house. There was an old, roughly made table and several long wooden benches. There was one lonely yellow light bulb hanging from the ceiling. There we were, a bunch of teacher hopefuls, getting a briefing while somebody was cooking and minding the kids downstairs. A few days later I received my first assignment. I got paid around Rp 10.000,- per visit (around Aus $1 and 20 cents). On one hand, the pay made me feel like a loser still. On the other hand, I was very happy to get a job, any job, after months of being unemployed.
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