1001 WORDS AFTER TRIAL : A REFLECTION OF SORT

Dear students,

As i was passing the school in which i am now teaching heading for my hometown, the butterflies inside my stomach seemed so restless that forced me to crack my brains to figure out ways to face the current scenario. Of course, the thing that i fear most is the outcome though the significance of the outcome is questionable and it does not necessarily reflect student's true performance as many hidden hands played their parts as well. Still, it coerced me to think as this time around, compared to previous two years, i have no idea on how and what to respond with the result at hand to meet a standard benchmark in getting targeted A grade.

Last year, for trial alone, we have almost a dozen of students getting 30 and above for paper 1 and the highest if my memory permits got 39/40. The likes of Iman, Ainur, Yo registered 35 and 36 respectively. The trial result alone was a real booster for both students and teachers before the real exam. Nevertheless, this time around, the highest score for paper 1 is 30 by two of them, Hanif and Izzah, followed closely by Zahira and Omar who scored 29 and 27 respectively. Given the present result, extraordinary plans and efforts are to be worked out, executed and exerted if they really dream their dream of getting A. The big question mark is do they have what it takes to materialise that dream. The passion , the burning desire like their seniors'. So far, I hardly find any of them showing tenacity and determination as shown by their seniors. Attendance is still considered as the best testimonial to measure one’s level of commitment. And as a teacher, i am still in search of formula to find the lost symbol or whatever object they may say to address the problem. Possibly without me realizing it, my approaches of instruction were obsolete and do not appeal to them anymore that they might have absorbed little or nothing. That is still the thing worthy to ponder if I dream of different outcome. Lest, the same or almost same result will be out at the end of December 2011.

They say, necessity is a mother of invention. The present situation now, at least to me is a dire-need situation and requires a strong task force to save it from being crumbled beyond repair. Two months to go can be both decisive and lethal. Should we fail to plan and properly execute it, it is tantamount to plan to fail. However, if things that we have been doing all this while proved nothing but just showed our laborious sort of person, doing the same things over and over again yet expect different result, this would be disastrous and leading us nowhere. Many people look busy doing things but never at all are in the know of what and why they are really doing. Possibly, I am one of the breeds. Then, productivity will be deprived of them for losing their focus and creativity.

The big question mark is why should i put in some efforts to think about this as my own students might not think of it at all. Of course, I must think as they are my in charge. Who else left for them to count on other than this very teacher. But do I have what it takes to help them better their performance. Unlike last two years, I had a partner with passion, intelligence and most importantly same sort of weltanschauung. We think almost alike in some approaches to execute as both of us then were novel. Everything then was a new discovery and we did discover and unearth a few gems lying deep down on the sea floor in the deep blue sea. But, things change and the only things , as philosophers claim, that don’t experience change is change itself. Change keeps changing and that is what makes it unchanged in a state of constant changing. Wallowing for things beyond our control bears no fruits at all. I should rather start and implement something rather revolutionary if hope is still within my lexicography. This is like an uphill battle and though I am not the who would sit the paper, but, as far as the result is concerned, I could feel how stressed some students were when facing questions they could hardly answer, much more to the questions that they don’t comprehend at all. Maybe , they are the ones who rather take the blame as they really enjoy themselves all year long as if to them the exam holds no bearing in their school life. They instead enjoyed texting, face booking or watching favorite Astro channels. When asked to do extra works they seldom handed in the works in time, let alone to do it earnestly. All they wanted to do is playing and enjoying the present moment without thinking the prize they have to pay in order to succeed. They heed not at all the maxim, popular among studious person ‘study first, enjoy later’. Though sounds subjective it may, the message is plainly clear. Students must know their priority which is to study and gain as much knowledge and experience as possible.

Considering the present situation, there are a few steps that I might possibly need to take into account unless I am already at peace with the present outcomes. The biggest hurdle is to leave comfort zones. Over time, we like water will freeze to death if put in a refrigerator. Those getting 25 and above need to join a camp specially designed to fast equip their memory with new vocab and formula deem crucial for both paper 1 and paper 2 and most importantly the process of getting answers for the questions. This 25 students must be made known to students as this will spur themselves to further improve their performance. In order to get 33 and above for section A, they at least need to answer 1000 questions. Only then, they would be familiar with questions. For paper 2, writing everyday on daily basis should be made a must. Most systematic modes of marking student’s work need to be applied as this will lessen teacher’s workload . Grammar is like a heart to the language without which students will find themselves in great difficulty even to string a very basic sentence of SV, SVO.

To quote what Winston Churchill once said ‘ Never give in..never give in..’ they say it is so easy to cry and die but to fight when hope is out of sight. His another quote worthy to ponder is ‘We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give’.


Sir