The fruit of patience

As I enter the class it was clearly in total chaos state. A group of boys were pushing each other. Desks and chairs were knocked down as some of the boys fell down. Then they will in turn pushed back their friends and another set of chairs and desks were knocked down in the process. One boy was holding a broom and chasing his friend. Once he got to smack his friend, the friend would turned around and chased him back. The girls were talking loudly as though they didn't notice my presence. Nothing I said or did seemed to be able to stop all of them. I took a deep breath and declared that if they can't respect me, I'm going to ask the principal to take me off from teaching this class. Then I left the class and headed for the staff room.

About six students chased after me including a boy who was still holding a broom in his hand. They kept on asking me to forgive them and go back to class. I kept my pace and entered the staff room. They can't follow me inside.

I drank a glass of plain water in order to stabilize my emotion. I can't easily forgive them or they will repeat the same mistakes over and over again. Something that is easily gain in never valued. But I also know that I have to get back to class. It is unethical to leave your class just like that. I prayed to Allah that if this is a situation that Allah has sent to me to change the students, then give me the strength and the wisdom to advise them. I went out of the staff room. Three girls were still waiting outside the door. I instructed them to walk first. They quietly lead the way. At times they looked back just to make I was still behind them.

Inside the class, I instructed everyone to sit on the floor in front of the class. To make me look superior, they have to look up at me. Some of the boys have to be gathered from other class - they have wandered around. I instructed a girl to close the door. I don't want students from other classes to watch. I told them that in my fifteen years career of a teacher, I have never met total chaos like today.

I said that deep inside my heart, I love them very much. Have they ever heard me scold them for asking a question or for asking me to repeat my explanation? Have I ever cancelled the extra class after school because only one of them turn up? Slowly they said no. I told them how I wanted them to think about their future. What will happen to them in twenty, thirty years time if they are not serious with their study? I even cried in class. Some of the girls cried too. I gave them my ultimatum. If they can't behave themselves in my class, I would ask the principal to change their maths teacher. Then I instructed them to go back to their place. They slowly rose up. Some boys were asking forgiveness from me on behave of the whole class. I just nodded slowly.

That was some weeks ago. Now everyone is in class. I received a lot of questions now. Some boys would not hesitate to go to the white board to ask parts that they can't understand. Even Ikhwan happily announced he has bought his first maths exercise book after seven months of school. I asked the whole class to give him a big clap. Allah has answered my prayer before I went back to class on that historical day. Alhamdulillah, all praises for Allah the almighty.

I chose to rise above the situation and to change the students for good on that day, if Allah permitted. And Allah has granted my wish.

May Allah give us the strength. May Allah bless us all.

Bravo kids!

Two of my students went to my house early in the morning to help me load my stuff into my MPV. My husband and son gave their hand. My husband drove me to school and helped me to set up my stall. Many of my students were already there waiting for me. We sprang into action immediately, putting cloth covering on the table, arranging the dishes and lighting the stove to cook the soup.

There was a large crowd especially during noon. Even though I have set a timetable of who's on duty for every hour, most of my students were around to help me out all the time. Some were shy shy at first since they were not used to serving customers. That was their first experience. Some were so bold and carry around yogurt and muffins on a tray and walk around and promoting the items. Many students from other stalls did that too. One boy hang a poster on his neck and went down to the shopping area outside the school to promote his class' stall. A rare sight for sure. Some of my students waited until late evening and helped me to pack up after the carnival was over. They were there for the whole day and never neglect me. As for me, that was one of my most tiring day since I have to stand from early morning. It was around 1.30 p.m. before I took a break and sat down. It felt nice to be able to relief my aching legs.

The event was a great success. It was the event that give me the change to teach my students the meaning of unity, team work, selfless and sacrifice. They learn to be enterprising kids in their efforts to promote the stall. It will be an event to remember to a long, long time.

May Allah bless my students. May Allah bless us all.

School Carnival

The school will be having a carnival this saturday and we are expecting to get about six thousand guests. Almost every student in my class has pledge that their mom will cook something to donate to our class stall. The kids have already come out with a few ideas of what to do with the profit. I told them to concentrate on how much profit we can make first.

I drove the girls to my house after school. While they were having lunch that I had prepared for them, I changed and performed my zohor prayer. Then we had a meeting on what to do and what to buy. Plus making a schedule on who's on duty at our stall on each shift. Getting the students deeply involved in the planning is a way to get full commitment from them. To give them a sense of belonging to the class project. It's a great way to teach them a lot of good values indirectly. Then we went shopping.

My MPV was sardined with seven passengers. All girls. Its easier that way. We went shopping for the ingredients for my meat soup and food container to serve our buyers on that day. There were much excitement and giggling. On the way home, I stopped at a restaurant and treat the girls some light meals. We exchanged jokes and stories. It's a rare sight to see students and teacher being able to talk amicably as though there's no age gap there. Before we eat, I asked the girls to say the prayer in congregation (berjemaah) before eating. I said that's my family tradition even though we eat out. An Indian girl in the group just keep quiet, respecting us. Then we did justice to our food, being hungry after all the shopping.

I sent home every one of them to their door step. I told them to say thanks to their mom for giving them permission to joint my think tank team.

It's not just a class project. It's the project of 43 families. My family and my students' families. May Allah bless our effort with a good profit.

May Allah bless us all.