Week 5 (because I was a chaos, there goes my headline for the pic)… where do I even begin?

It was hectic, chaotic, and at times overwhelming. I was only present for three days because the other two were spent resting from an ankle sprain. I suspect it came from the long hours of standing while cleaning and organising the music room so that lessons could finally run there comfortably 🎹.

Since arriving here, I’ve unofficially moved my base from the staffroom to the music room. I want to be present in the space — to see what needs fixing, what can be improved, and of course, to steal a little time to practise the piano whenever possible. I also had a funny little mission: informing the resident squirrel that humans have returned to the settlement 🐿️😄. We met last week. Message delivered.

5B – Aspirations vs Reality📋

I have so many dreams for this class.

I want the roster running, the Diamond Team board completed, and the whole system functioning like an organisation, with the students doing the work. But reality whispered, slow down. Time constraints and syllabus demands meant that many of those plans are still waiting in line. I need to teach the contents instead of doing classwork with them.

I felt a little sad about that.

So I made a decision: if I cannot do everything, I will at least make sure we have the organisation chart, the duty roster, and perhaps even the job specifications for the board of directors. I’m planning to work on these during the school holidays. Step by step. Progress is still progress 🌱.

In terms of learning, I’m happy.

We began with the topic of talking about themselves. Together, we brainstormed ideas and managed to list ten points ✨. From there, we moved into parallel writing, and many students were able to produce their paragraphs with only a few mistakes in mechanics.

I reminded them again — capitalisation, spacing, commas, full stops. These may look small, but in exams, they carry marks. Silly mistakes can become expensive ones 📝.

We also explored vocabulary about favourites, discussed meanings, and created a circle map. A good, steady week for them.

3Z – Small Steps, Big Effort ✍️

3Z worked on simple sentences describing personal appearance: straight hair, curly hair, handsome, pretty, brown eyes, black eyes.

There is the word ugly in the textbook, but I chose not to use it in our sentence writing. It doesn’t feel right for children to label themselves or others that way. That word can stay for monsters 👹.

Writing was challenging for many of them, especially the mechanics. There’s still a lot of guidance needed here. When I watched my teaching video, I thought, Oh dear, I look so chaotic, fussy, and stressed! 😅

But in retrospect, it was also a little funny. Sometimes we need to laugh at ourselves.

They also learned numbers from 10 to 100 in tens. We repeated, we wrote, and many completed the task. As usual,  about four learners need extra coaxing and close support. They require more energy, more patience, more heart 🤍.

2Z – A to Z!🔤

Some of them have reached Z and even started writing their names and class. That is such meaningful progress.

This week, I want to focus on letter sounds. Which reminds me — my phonics song is still unfinished! 🎶

Teacher, please hurry.

Teacher’s Heart 🌧️➡️🌤️

I was tired most days. My mind felt cloudy, and the perimenopausal symptoms made things heavier than usual. I tried my best to calm myself with remembrance of Allah 🤲.

In a way, the ankle sprain forced me to pause. Perhaps my body needed that moment to recharge.

I pray for strength to fulfil the trust given to me — as a wife, a mother, a daughter, and a teacher. May I carry these responsibilities with sincerity and patience.

Ameen 🤍.