'Cikgu, cikgu bolehkah cikgu datang rumah saya pada hari deepavali' Student X asked
'Terima kasih , X tapi cikgu tak ada di sini pada hari Deepavali. ' I said
'Cikgu boleh datang pada hari lain, Khamis Jumaat pun boleh'
'Ok, tapi cikgu hanya akan balik sini hari Ahad!'
Kalau macam tu, Cikgu datang Ahad . Nanti saya bagi cikgu nombor Bapa saya.
Cikgu, alamat rumah saya tulis dan bagi cikgu esok .
The next day, she put a piece of paper with her address on my table .
I met her again in corridor and she said
"Cikgu, cikgu mesti datang rumah saya, bila bila masa ,pagi ,petang pun boleh. Cikgu call bapa saya bagi tau masa .
'Cikgu mesti datang !' Student X said with excited voice.
That was my Friday conversation with her before the kick start of the long Deepavali holiday.
On that Sunday , my colleague and i visited the girl and her family. It is really a wonderful experience. The parents are so friendly and i have a good conversation with the parents about their kids and get to know more about their background.
What warm my heart was when the girl said
'Cikgu , saya suka sejarah , sebab kelas sejarah seronok. Cikgu, hari itu saya pergi Port Dickson dan pergi museum. Saya nampak mata wang yang berbentuk haiwan yang cikgu pernah ajar dan tunjuk gambar di kelas.'
Just a simple and casual words but my heart feel so warm when she said that because all this while i feel like a fail history teacher because i keep try and error,feel like not teaching history properly.
Anyway, i really glad that she can connect what she learnt in the class with the life and what she see.
I don't know how other students think , i know there is so much room for improvement in my teaching.
Teaching at the same time gave me opportunity to learn a lot. I learnt so much from people around me and students. Teaching is not only pedagogy, it involves so much emotions, love, firm , patience , relationship building and understanding others, consistency and even playing psychology tricks.......! So much and it is one of the lively job.
The simple words from the girl really motivate me a lot to continue stay in this path as a teacher.
