family picture of term 2

Here is a picture of my current student in this term....our family picture....Hibiscus(my class name btw) family photo:

Another one of us being insane:

Hopefully no changes in the next term after the holidays....

God has been faithful...God is great....

cherios

Finally....

Finally i get to blog....for the past few days i've been wanting to blog but xanga has been so slow that i can't even open up the page...i know it has been a long time since i've blogged but work won't allow me to even sit down for a long time to write down my thoughts....i have been that busy and the fact that xanga has been so slow makes it even worse...so i'm thinking of changing blog page..maybe to blogspot since i have a gmail account...but i'm open for suggestion...anyone?

Anyway, it has been my tradition to talk about my students every year...and i love doing it..but since i started in this new school, i had no camera to take any of the children's pictures because it is not working...sadly ...but after 4 weeks of school, the school bought 3 new cameras....waalaa.....so i needed to do reports of each child and also take pictures of each child...so i decided to take that oppurtunity to save some of the pictures in my thumbdrive....and so here goes...

Introducing to you my family in Chiltern house...specificly N2 Hibiscus(my class name)...btw i teach 4 year olds

The 2 girls are twin sisters...so cool man..its my first time i have twins in my class....well one is name Anna (left) and the other is Audra (right)...well Anna is one brave girl...the first day she came, she came in confidently...she came into my class first and then Audra came after 3 weeks....Well when Audra came in, she had a hard time settling in...but now, there's no problem..she is able to say goodbye to her own mother...and she now is trying to go to the toilet by herself without the maid...one thing i like a bout the twins is their soft spoken voice...its really cute...and the like to follow each other...especially with the things they have...when one says something, the other will echo...well for now the goal for Audra is to be in the class independently without the maid...its going there but we're taking it slow and easy...but i believe she's able to do that soon....

This is Ciaran...a lot of mums says that he is really one handsome boy...i would have to agree with all the mums...but i believe he inherited all the good genes from the parents...hehehe...well this boy doesn't like to eat..but i think his parents are quite cool....they remind me of my own parents.....they don't tolerate too much nonsense...which i think is good for him......

Charlotte...She is one beautiful girl...and super cute...look at her cheeks...u can't resist but pull..hehehe..but this is my most punctual student...i think punctual is not the word...my early bird....she comes to class 20 minutes before class starts...i don't remember doing that except for Jason Mraz's concert...hehehe..and i awarded her a certificate(which we do every week) for being so punctual for school....she really took pride in it....

Matthew....this boy reminds me of my very own brother....in terms of size when my brother was young...and also the intelligence...he is able to read at the age of 2....i was amazed when his mom told me this information...i could hardly recognize the alphabet when i was that age and this boy is already reading...gosh..super advance...and he really know lots of things..and i must say he got lots of cool educatinal toys too...i love them..wish i could have them...hehehehe

Jessica....she is one really quiet girl but at the same time i believe she's also a very smart girl..and i think she's also quite mature....well i've been wanting to get her to share more things with me but i have not been able to do that succesfully....so hopefully she'll be more open...but as i observe her, she loves singing in groups...and she participates really well in group activities... 

Huang Han...he had a hard time settling in at least for the first month of school...but by 2nd week of February, he cried less and also took a shorter time to stop crying..and the best part is, after snack time(which is the 2nd part of the day), he would be smiling and laughing...the 1st month i thought i had not done something....but then i guess he is taking his own sweet time to settle in..which is fine with me....but i'm glad that he stopped crying and he is trying to enjoy life in school...hehehe..but i must say all this is thanks to my very patient Madarin teacher....

This boy's name is Jeremy....he is my 'cili padi' in my class...smallest in my class but with big personality...big voice too...i can be standing near th e door and he can call me from the other end of my class...power house voice...but he's really adorable...as i type here, i somehow can hear his voice..hehehe....i believe he's got very good memory...he seems to be able  to remember a lot of things from the class....

Issac....he was the tallest boy in my class till another student came in..but he doesn't look his age...u might have mistaken him for a 5 year old...well this boy had his 4th birthday party at shangri-la hotel....i was quite overwhelmed when i got the invitation...previously, McDonalds was a big thing...but i guess its different here....well this boy is very helpful...he will be one of those who loves to help me clean up..but i must be very firm with him...he takes advantage of kind and nice ppl...hehehe..but thats really rare...

Mandy....she's my sanguine in my class...she is reaally outgoing and has no problem making friends....she had a best friend in the class but unfortunately, after the holidays, he change to the morning session...but she never fails to make more friends in the class...especially among the boys...among all my girls in the class, she's most outspoken too...love to hear her stories especially when she comes in to class...no problem in terms of sharing her thoughts and feelings

This is Han Joon....he is a Malaysian Konese (Korean mix Chinese)...he has a Malaysian chinese dad and a korean mother...and the first impression of this boy or family is that they are Christians...and the most encouraging things about them is they have been praying for me even before i started working here and is still praying for me daily...i am very encourage to hear that when his mother tells me that...its nice to have a child's whole family praying for me every night before he goes to sleep...anyway he is also one sweet boy..look at the picture and u'll understand..a picture paints a thousand words right...hehehe

Max....this is one animal lover....he knows more animal names than i do...i learned a lot from him when he was with me...sadly he left to the morning session because there was a space...but i will still see him once in a while especially when i go into that class...so not too bad

Daniel....He came in halfway last term....he took 1 week to settle in..which was quite good...sadly he left the school...i don't know why..but i thought he was settling in so well and he had to leave...but when he was with me, he did learn some chinese, and learn to communicate with his friends...and he is one really cheerful boy...he never hesistate to come in cheerfully and greets really loudly...i love that and i will miss that of him...

This term(Term 2), i have 2 more new students to fill up the 2 spaces of the 2 children who left....and i will try to blog about them soon...

till then....

ciaoz

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How has 2009 been so far...

2009......it started of with mixed feelings....sad and excited at the same time....quite sad to leave my old job and go into something new but at the same time waiting to see what the Lord plan out for me at this new school.....Being someone who don't like unfamiliar situations and changes, i find it difficult to adapt....and i take a long time to adapt....

Well first week of school was very stressful for me.....I work from 8:30am- 5:30pm (but i leave home before the sun rises and comes home after the sun sets)...Something that i am not use to since i used to work till 1pm....the workload was really a lot especially the preparation....First week with the children was even more stressful as i have a bunch of new children and almost the whole class of crying children......i had never experience/ handle a class of 4 years old ( as in head teacher) and i never experience so many crying children at the same time.... and the pressure from the parents looks on how i am doing things....it was very stressful....i panic on the first day the children came and totally forgot about what were the lessons i have to do for that day.....and thank God my principal and another colleague was there to help...it was quite embarrassing that i really look like i couldn't handle my class well.... I had to send a SOS SMS to my previous Kindi Principal for help....it was really desperate...well but i took it as a learning step..... the children cried till the fourth day....and by Friday, all the children settled in...but i was still in a mess....still confuse.....still stress.....I shed some tears but not too much......

I never thought i will think about saying this in my career path but i did....i never thought that i would say thank God its Friday and Boohoo to Monday...but i did....During the week i question my ability even though i went for training and had 5 years of experience.....i thought that i was not capable of handling a class of 4 year olds....i thought the students did not like their teacher(me).....i thought i said something wrong that affected the child a lot......it was really a frustrating and discouraging first week....but the people and support around me helped me go through.... When it was Friday i was really very tired and i think i was abt to burst into more tears on that day......but i manage to hold it....I guess now i understand what Marcus meant by I'm working in a company and it will be different....It is indeed very different from the previous workplace....

2nd week started off with less crying and at the same time trying to adapt and learn the routines....well it started very rough in the begining of the week...throughout the week i think the word that was repeated too many times by one particular student was "Mama".......it was quite annoying at times.....and the sentence to counter that word is always "Mama will be coming to fetch you at 5:15, don't worry".....it is kinda annoying when i hear myself always repeating the same thing....but 2nd week was much better....The classroom management part was getting better and better as i watch and apply from other teachers i observe....Today was the best day......the children were so much more stable and the children was also more willing to participate in the activities...and for our assembly today, we(my class children) won the prize(which happens to be a monkey call Mr Pickles...so cute....) for being so good and participating in the activities...i'm so proud of my students...they definately felt very happy and proud of themselves....everyone went back with a happy face...so did I....

Overall, it has been a learning process for me...i feel that everyday i'm learning something new(either about the school, the system, the children, the parents, my fellow teachers, classroom and etc) even though it is quite stressful....but i feel its all worth it....

Well i hope for the coming weeks, things will get better as i get used to the system....

This coming Monday will be a totally new experience for me as 1 more student will be coming in and 2 other children are leaving my class...that is really sad...just when i'm getting used to them, they are leaving...haih...but i am praying and hoping that it will all be alright....

I can testify that God has been with me through this...i don't think i'll have the strength to move on if i did it with my own abilities(which is so limited).....

Well thats all about the updates from me....i've actually got one more thing to show..but maybe another time...

toodles..

Some updates and thoughts and wish list......

Phew....it has been a totally busy time for me...but its all worth it....the last few weeks were filled with work at my old working place and a transition and preparation time at my new working place next year at another kindergarten in Bangsar...wanna know more go to www.juliagabriel.com .... am feeling a bit anxious about starting at the new place and the expectations....going to be starting anew, learning lots of things (expecting to do more work and make mistakes), making new colleagues and new children.....basicly coming out from a very comfortable and familiar environment to a totally new place...basicly changes....something that i'm not very comfortable with....something i constantly struggle with at every junction of my life.....but God never fails to remind me of His faithfulnes in the past and that He will be still be faithful in the future.....but so far, the new working place has been quite nice and fun.....especially the trainings that i had.....just some information about this new place...It is a very ideal place and working environment...i would say it is very ideal environment for kindergarten education too.....

Other than that, Christmas is just around the corner(time to list down my wishlist)....but more important than that, some of us from the YA and College group is organizing an event for a special group of children and friends to celebrate this joyous occasion together....It is a first time for us and myself....i never thought that there are so many things that needed to be considered when organizing this....but thats what a commitee is for...to point out things that i never see....but besides the planning, i think i'm getting very excited to celebrate Christmas with this special friends and children.....sometimes I'm too comfortable with celebrating it with my own friends that i forget to actually share this joy of this occasion to those who do not have the oppurtunity to do so...well something small that we can do for these group of people....sharing God's love and our lives to them....

Well i have been wanting to blog about the trip to my brother's school in Sabah but xanga has been quite slow and there were many problems....anyway maybe just one picture and thoughts during and about the trip...

During our trip, we went to an island with some of my brother's students....it was really nice meeting some of them...some whom he has written about in his blog over the years...but when i look at this picture (i know its not so clear) i am reminded of the all the happy faces i saw on that day and how we all enjoyed each other's company and how life can be so simple...the first thing that came to mind was this questions... "What's the point?"...what's the point of materialism when people can be happy at simple things like this? What's the point of leaving home to go to a supposedly "better" place to pursue a better education or living conditions when it becomes more complicated in a "dog-eat-dog" world at the end?....Life can be so simple....it doesn't have to be as complicated....I have learned a lot from the trip and seeing and experiencing my brother's life at that part of the world....one word to summarize my thoughts about the trip....

Simple

As for my wish list, nothing much....anything but decoration items or useless items....i don't mind some funds to be added into my charity box for my coming trip to Macau and HK ...hehehehe....

well Merry Christmas to all....i guess will only blog when i come back from my trip....

God bless...