No Maths Day

it's a tradition in our school to have something special at the end of every term. It's also a part of Fund raising to support our sponsored child in Rwanda. we had Book Week Dress Up Day, Jelly Baby Beans Day, Crazy Hair Day...

This time...we vote to decide what we're going to do end of this term..

We came up with some ideas...such as:

No Maths Day
Inside Out Day (wearing your clothes inside out)
PJ's Day
Spider Day (Spider is a type of drink made by mixing soft drink and ice-cream - still don't understand why they call it Spider here)
Different Socks Day (when you wear different types of socks in each foot)
No Talking day --> this is the most popular one for teachers hahahaha....* we all love this idea..especially kindy and year 6 teachers*

it's funny how each child came up with different opinion.
the most interesting is when it came to No Maths Day...

there were pros and cons for this day

Obviously most kids were excited since they do not have to have maths for that day

but..some came up with these opinions:
There will be impossible to have No Maths Day because:
1. If you line up..you're doing maths
2. If you look at the clock, you're doing maths
3. If you write a number, you're doing maths
4. If you're talking with your friends, you're doing maths (how fast or slow you're talking is also part of maths)
5. If we have circle time, we also do maths (circle, got it??)
6. even if we sit on the floor, we still do maths (we normally sit in a square with a masking tape on for each person's name)
8. if we walk, run or even skip, we count and do maths
7. even when we ask questions, such as: how long til recess/lunch/home time?....we're doing maths

so? how are we going to have No Maths Day if almost everything we do is Maths???

still..we haven't had the decision til today..while it's only 3 weeks to go til last week of school..*sigh*...it always happens when it comes to voting for decision... ;P

what's on her mind?

with just one month out from the US election, perhaps it’s time to take a look at Sarah Palin as the next President of the United States.

Everybody knows she’s only the Vice-Presidential candidate, but let’s face facts: John McCain is about a thousand years old and doesn’t look like he’ll make it to the election, let alone through a four-year term. and from she's been doing right now..it looks like she's chasing the presidential position rather than vp.

how hysterical to see this woman on TV. While she may not be a big hit with voters, Sarah Palin who likes to call herself as 'The pitbull in lips, hockey mom" has made a big splash on the net, becoming the butt of many online parodies and the star of umpteen viral videos.

one of the most widely shared has been comedian Tina Fey's spoof of Palin on the US comedy show Saturday Night Live (SNL)...man, that was hilarious ;)

Palin videos have dominated the most-viewed list on YouTube for the last couple of weeks, especially from her interviews with CBS reporter

the latest parody from Sarah Palin is from her debate with Joe Biden. and this flowchart really fascinates me... have a look...

whaddaya think?

i feel sorry for this woman yet irritated with her phrase such as '...also...though...; maverick, Washington outsider, etc*just wondering, has anyone counted how many times she said those words in her first debate?* plus her annoying winks ....quirky smile..and blow kisses...while she did not have any ideas on what she's talking about...

somewhat she doesn't realise that she's unqualified (if not stupid) to be a vice president. what's on her mind when she accepted this ticket in the first place? what made her undertook McCain offer? can't help myself to give comments in the media...

it's really hard when someone doesn't know if she/he is stupid...

and the more ridiculous is ...someone stupid who thinks she/he is smart...that will be a huge disaster.

can you imagine her being the next president if McCain can't govern for the 4 year full term? I certainly can not. it would be another comical president after Bush I reckon ;P..

that's what it's called 'The American Dream" when anyone can be anybody ;-)

some of our stories...

udah mo 2nd season kuis 'are you smarter than the 5th grader'
anak" udah mulai berkomentar
"Miss. A, why it's 5th grader? why it's not 2nd grader? we can't be in that show then"

salah satu temannya nyeletuk:
"what about we start applying for the show now? i believe it will take ages to be in the show. Perhaps when we're in year 5, we can be easily in the show. Is that right, Miss. A?"

ada celetukan lagi:
"what about Miss. A starts applying to be the contestant as well? by the time she gets in, we also get in. What do you think, Miss. A?"

yang laen berkomentar gini:
"Miss. A..just wondering.. how much money will you get if you're in that show? do you think you'll get the first prize (alias AUD500K hahaha). As a teacher, you should be able to answer all the questions, shouldn't you, especially when it comes to primary school questions?"

saya cuma senyum..sambil berpikir juga ya....rasanya rada susah buat ngejawab semua pertanyaan di kuis itu =) seriously, i've never heard about some of the questions..how can i answer it if i don't even know what they are about? *excuse bangeeet yaaa hahahaha*

kadang" mereka suka muncul dengan obrolan" yang ga kepikiran

salah satu session di hari selasa sore adalah gross motor, mulai dari warming up, main activity, sampe cooling down...

salah satu game yang paling digemari adalah Octopus and Shark..(buat temen" yang dulu sekolah di Palembang, mungkin tau ama yang namanya permaenan cabut....mirip" gitulah cara maennya)...

anyway..bukan itu yang mo di highlight...

ceritanya buat cooling down..kita relaxing..dengan lagu dan anak" tiduran di rumput playground. sambil menyuruh anak" nutup mata dan ngebayangin kalau mereka ada di tepi pantai, tiduran, minum lemonade, dengerin lagu kesayangan sembari ada suara ombak di belakang mereka, dll

setelah kurang lebih 15mins kami bercooling down ria, saatnya untuk kembali ke kelas. anak" satu persatu mulai beberes..kecuali satu anak...

dia cuma diem aja. saya bingung. sampai beberapa anak ngomong:
"Miss. A, i think she felt asleep. I tried to wake her up but she was still asleep"

saya setengah ga percaya...sambil jalan ke arah si kecil dan mencoba mengguncang bahunya..dan Gee weeez....dia kaget, kebangun dan kebingungan....

ternyataaa.....dia memang ketiduran sewaktu kami menikmati semilir angin di playground tadi..walaaaaah!!!

cerita lain lagi:
setiap 15-20 mins sebelum bel pulang, kami udah mulai beberes kelas, mulai dari packing, cleaning the class, and stacking the chairs up...
saya sering banget ngomong:
"i'm afraid it's time to pack and stack, children. please our class clean, tidy, and spotless"

suatu hari, salah satu murid saya yang pendiaaam setengah mati tiba" ngomong gini:
"come on, guys...just think yourself as a vacuum cleaner...zoom zoooom. (dia niruin suara vacuum ceritanya).....cleaning cleaning...no rubbish anymore..make Miss. A proud of us..."

mereka memang sering muncul dengan surprise menyenangkan =P...that's why being in the class is such a privilege for me...kami seperti bermain dan belajar dalam waktu bersamaan..

Spellchecker Poem

Eye halve a spelling chequer
it came with my pea sea
it plainly marques four my revue
miss steaks eye kin knot sea

eye strike a quay and type a word
and weight four it two say
weather eye am wrong oar write
it shows me strait a weigh

as soon as a mist ache is maid
it nose bee fore two long
and eye can put the error rite
its rare lea ever wrong

eye have run this poem threw it
i am shore your pleased two no
its letter perfect awl the weigh-
my chequer tolled me sew

-from one of freebies book club sent to me. thought it's great to share to brighten your day ;-)-

cukup kayaknya buat intermezzo nya ya....udah 2 minggu masuk skolah di term 3 ini. beberapa anak" masih berlanjut dengan holiday mood walaupun kebanyakan dari mereka udah ga sabar buat ber-olympics- ria...

kayaknya ampir semua skolah di dunia skarang ini lagi belajar tentang Olympics ya? sorry kalo sok tau, tapi dari hasil perburuan di perpustakaan atau toko buku manapun yang susah banget rasanya mo ngedapetin buku" tentang olympics, entah itu udah dibooking, udah dipinjem ato udah abis stocknya...hikkss...kayaknya bener deh investigasi ini, betul?

untungnya teman" di skolah udah bersiap dari jauh" hari buat resource term ini (thx heaps, guysss....) jadi saya dengan bergiat juga nyari pinjeman sana sini...

term lalu anak" belajar semua tentang China...kelas kami penuh dengan hiasan dan calligraphy Chinese, seperti Chinese Culture and History, Chinese Fire Crackers, Chinese Dragon, Panda, Facts and Myths about China, what's the diff and similarities between Australia and China..dan yang paling heboh adalah Chinese Corner di kelas kami yang dipenuhi dengan semua barang" MADE IN CHINA (believe me..it's massive!!! ampir ga muat tuh mejanya saking semua semangat hihihi)

term ini? hmm you can probably guess that already, huh? minggu ini udah dimulai dengan Flags of the World art & craft...semua heboh bawa buku ttg olimpiade, world sports, negara" yang ikut ambil bagian di olimpiade, etc....bersiap dengan kreasi kami selanjutnya??? sabar ya... ;-)

back to 'normal'

dari postingan terakhir, rasanya baru sekarang bisa sedikit bernapas lega =)

interview n portfolio were such a success!!! exhausting but great...saya yang tadinya nervous abis bisa berpuas hati soalnya ga ada masalah sama sekali...which was fabulous. parents di kelasku sungguh understanding dengan Miss A yang masih belajar juga (maklum anak baru, bos!)

Seperti ceritaku sebelumnya, anak" berhasil 'membanggakan' hasil kerja keras mereka selama ini, mulai dari celotehan mereka selama meeting itu..ato tingkah mereka yang dengan ga sabarnya buat ngejelasin setiap subject yang ada di portfolio mereka. sampe saya ga kedapetan buat ngomong panjang...kebanyakan orang tua sampe bilang:
"what about if you let Miss A and Mummy talk first, then you can have your turn, dear" or "perhaps you can let Mum and Dad to ask questions to Miss. A and then you can help "
beberapa dari mereka langsung cemberut tapi tetep setia menunggu giliran bicara ;P

oh well...kebanyakan meeting yang harusnya berjalan 15mins bisa molor apalagi buat anak" yang gemar bercerita dan ga mau distop....senang rasanya bisa berdiskusi bersama anak" sekaligus orang tua mereka...

setelah itu..hmm it was the hardest part buatku. setelah meeting itu, saya harus nyiapin reports dengan komen plus grade buat masing" anak. hmm ga tega rasanya untuk terpaksa ngasih nilai D or E..by the way....istilah report ini adalah A - E Reports...di mana nilai paling tinggi adalah A dan E adalah terendah....maaf ya nak, Miss A dengan sangat amat terpaksa harus jujur, betul???

hari terakhir diisi dengan peringatan hari Juvenile Diabetes dengan dress up ala jelly babies beans yang berwarna warni (mon, g tetep stick ama orange, biru n item btw hahaha). lunch bareng di hall dengan menu soup lezat plus roti n butter plus lagi dapet a bag of jelly babies beans.....yuuummmm....!!!

anyway..it was a frantically busy term....kalo kata guru senior..kalo bisa survive di term ini, artinya ga usah khawatir buat term" selanjutnya...term 3 yang relatively santai, term 4 yang pasti mulai menggila lagi dengan rutinitas akhir taun ajaran..

oh well...hectic....busy...but indeed it was a really splendid and wonderful term!!!

we're on hols for 2 weeks now...back to school on 21st July everyone..until then...have a safe and happy holiday...

see you next term dengan beragam cerita dan canda kami semua... =)

Portfolio

minggu depan deadline buat portfolio anak". saya harus mengumpulkan hasil kerjaan anak" selama term 1 sampai detik ini dalam portfolio mereka.

untuk tahun ini, kebanyakan akan menerapkan 3-ways interview.

interview ini adalah bentuk interview di mana yang jadi moderatornya adalah anak" sendiri. jadi mereka yang ngelead meeting ini.

kami sudah latihan dengan beberapa simulasi biar anak" ada bayangan gimana ntar meetingnya berlangsung.

saya sengaja memperlakukan diri sebagai orang tua atau murid, sementara anak" yang jadi gurunya. senang sekali rasanya mereka bisa keluar dari zona mereka dan ikut berperan dalam simulasi ini. beberapa dari mereka bahkan bisa berlaku sebagai guru dan bisa ngasih sugesti yang mungkin bisa saya pakai nanti di meeting benerannya ya? well done, children!

dan untuk panduan meeting nanti, kami membuat reflections biar anak" bisa ngeliat ke belakang apa saja yang sudah mereka jalanin di kelas. mulai dari writing, maths, reading, literacy, integrated unit, arts, Physical Education, excursion, etc.

macem" banget tulisan mereka yang akan mereka bawa serta di meeting nanti...sementara saya yang masih terus berkutat untuk portfolio (since it's my first time) huaaaaaa.......anak" begitu semangatnya ga sabar ngatur jadwal buat 'mamerin' orang tuanya dan terutama buat ngasih tau apa aja yang udah mereka kerjain di sekolah selama ini.....

Botanical Garden

senen besok term 2 udah dimulai...jadi inget mo cerita kunjungan kami ke Australian Native Botanical Garden 2 hari terakhir sebelum break, tepatnya tgl 10 April kemarin.

g juga ikut belajar selama excursion itu, salah satunya baru tau kalau tempat ini emang bener" cuma buat tanaman native Australian, (Ksenia bilang: "that's why it's called Australian Native Botanical Garden, Miss"). telmi juga ya g?

di sini kunjungan kita dibagi dalam 3 sessions.

1. History of Plants plus gimana cara Aboriginal People dulu survive di bushland dengan hanya mengandalkan tanaman" di sekitarnya. menarik juga karena kita berkesempatan buat ngeliat hasil kerajinan asli Aborigine, makanan asli, senjata buat berburu, alat musik, gimana mereka bisa ngerubah ranting pohon buat tempat tidur anaknya, ayunan, keranjang barang. dibedain gimana hasil buatan kaum pria dan wanita jaman dulu buat survive dll...seru sekali...salah satunya ya pasti boomerang and alat musik khas Aboriginal People, didgeridoo

setelah menghabiskan waktu di ruangan yang berisi barang" itu, kami ngelanjutin dengan menyusuri garden buat ngeliat langsung tanaman" yang sudah kami bahas sebelumnya.

waktu ngelewatin salah satu section di sana, Tour Guide nanya : "how do you carry your groceries when you go to the supermarket?"
anak" jawab: hmm we put them in the trolley, we carry them in a bag, we asked our mums and dads to help, etc...

begitu ditunjukin hasil buatan indigenous people itu yang juga bisa dipake buat ngegendong babynya, anak" langsung berdecak kagum....dan mulai muncul pertanyaan" khas mereka...misalnya: "how do you know that?, how do you know it's safe. how long did it take to make it?..how they mixed all the materials, what tools they used to make this, can you please tell us how to make it, so we can ask mum and dad to try making it"...

kami juga ngeliat tanaman dan pohon" kayak eucalyptus yang biasa buat obat, bottle tree yang bisa diminum air di dalemnya, grass tree yang bentuknya persis kayak rumput, dan berbagai macem pohon unik laennya...di tengah perjalanan sempet ngeliat lizards, winter dragon yang nyelinep pelan" tapi langsung lari begitu kita ngedeketin.

2. setelah break sebentar kami ngelanjutin kunjungan kami dengan menyusuri Rainforest buatan. seruuu sekali kali ini. anak" begitu tertarik mempelajari nama" tanaman yang dibagi per kelas dan species. kami dibagikan petunjuk sejarah, klasifikasi, dan informasi ttg tanaman" ini. selama satu jam..kami ga berhenti"nya nyatet, gambar, dan berdecak kagum...sekali lagi..ini sungguh unik....berada di sini ngingetin g akan lintas alam semasa sma dulu ;-). dan dengan semangatnya g nyeritain gimana hutan di Indonesia. tanaman" yang beda, suasana dan iklim yang berbeda bisa buat hutan yang berbeda...sambil mereka pun saling 'memamerkan' hutan di tempat asal mereka...

3. setelah lunch, kami mempelajari jenis" daun dan tanaman khas Australia. dengan menggunakan mikroskop, kami ngeliat berbagai macam jenis daun, gimana cara perawatan, cara adaptasi, cara pertumbuhan tanaman tersebut. sering sekali g denger anak" berteriak 'wooow..ouuuch or even hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiih' waktu ngamatin tanaman" itu di bawah mikroskop.

setelah menghabiskan waktu seharian di sana, kami pun pulang kembali ke sekolah. selama perjalanan pulang. anak" sibuk berceloteh di dalam bus...saling berdiskusi dengan teman"nya...sesampai di kelas, kami pun saling bertukar pikiran...

g nanya:
what do you like the best in the garden?
what did you learn today?
what interesting thing did you find while you at the garden?

jawaban mereka:
i like the rainforest the best, Miss. It reminds me of my home in Tasmania...g tersenyum..dan menjawab: yes, it also reminds me of my home back in Indonesia...

Miss..actually, I had a bad day today at the garden. I really wanted to see poisonous snakes. but I didn't get to see any. I hope i can see them later when I go with mum and dad.

hmm..i like the microscope session the best. I could see different textures and shape of all leaves. and i must say...most of Australian plants are all spikey...they've got spikey hair and sharp edges.

oh Miss. A, you know why they call it Rainforest? because it rains a lot. did you get to feel the moist? it felt great. i like it. it doesn't have to rain all the time, but it definitely rains often. You can find them in tropics and near equator, like in Tasmania, Queensland, Brazil or even some in Indonesia, can't you, Miss?

I like rainforest a lot because it feels nice when we're there. we also discovered a lot of ouuuccchy plants. did you also see that, Miss. A? I now even forget their names. but I am sure I remember them if i go next time.

I like when we learned how to play didgeridoo..it took me ages to blow it...and i almost lost my breath..but it was fun...

senang sekali rasanya ngeliat mereka begitu antusias berbagi cerita pengalaman di Botanical Garden..terus terang aja banyak tanaman yang baru kali ini g liat...so...bersama mereka g juga belajar banyak hari ini

running smoothly

salah satu nightmare g kalo lagi di kelas..adalah ngeliat anak" nganggur ga ada kerjaan

dan yang jadi salah satu kunci supaya anak" ga 'bengong ato terkesan nyasar di kelas alias ga tau mo ngapain...adalah dengan menyediakan cadangan materi...khususnya buat fast finishers yang seringkali dengan cepatnya nyelesaiin kerjaan mereka...dan dateng dengan pertanyaan:

"Here. I'm done, Miss. A. what should I do now?'
atau
"I've finished, Miss. A. what do you want me to do next?"
atau
"I've completed all these tasks. is there anything else I can do?"

hmm masih inget awal" g di kelas. g sempet kelabakan nyediain materi" biar pas ama waktu ngajar g...dan seriiing kali g berasa anak" ga ngelakuin apa" seharian...dan itu ngebuat g berasa bersalah setengah mati.

tapi kalo anak" keasyikan ngerjain sesuatu sementara masih banyak kerjaan yang harus di catch up hari itu? g mesti gimana? bingung kan? walaupun pada dasarnya g senang sekali ngeliat anak" bisa berdiskusi dengan teman"nya, ngerjain project mereka sampai lupa waktu..

seperti kemarin ini...kami lagi ngerjain project Australian Wildlife di library...g udah nyediain waktu selama 1 jam untuk ini. tapi dari pembahasan awal...anak" udah sibuk nyari bahan di comp, ngebuka" ensiklopedia atau literatur, nyari" di buku bacaan..atau bolak balik ke meja g buat nanya...

ini udah dikerjain selama beberapa minggu tapi tetep aja mereka ga bergerak dari meja masing" waktu g bilang:

'ok, children. time is up. we need to go back to our class now"

jawaban mereka:
"noooooo......we haven't finished yet. we're still working on it, Miss. A. Can we please stay here for a bit longer?"

'sigh"..

wisata kuliner + dysentery = hiks....

salah satu rencana balik g yaitu mo berwisata kuliner n puas"in makan malah bubaaar total...

baru juga mpe palembang..g dah diterpa migraine walaupun ga parah...

sampe di bdg...baru nyampe udah mules"...sampe akhirnya g dibawa ke UGD Borromeus setelah mules, diare" n ngeluarin semua makanan yang g makan (maaaf!!!!)

udah ditawarin infus n nginep tapi g keukeuh ga mau..suntik aja deh hehehe daripada dimasukin jarum hiiih...

udah sok kuat sampe akhirnya g tepar lagi..suntik lagi deh...

baru kemaren g berhasil bangun dengan mayan PD =)..ternyata g kena disentri...kena salmonella...yang anehnya g ga tau dapet dari mana...bete deh!!
kalo kata temen" g seh..ga elite amat....hahaha alias ga mutu banget penyakitnya..huuhuuuuu

seeedih belon berhasil menyicipi makanan kegemaran g jaman dulu....kolak, ayam bumbu rujak, bubur, sate, nasi goreng kambing/ikan asin, es duren, es campur, martabak, cincau ijo, candil, batagor, siomay, kupat tahu, perkedel jagung, sambel bajak, etc
sementara time is running out...dah kudu balik lagi...

untungnya hari ini setelah ngerayu nyokap...g berhasil makan lotek hahaha..yummmmmm....walaupun dengan catetan kudu make nasi...walaaaah..kenapa g ga minta lotek nya make lontong aja ya tadi? ;-)...harus pinter" manfatin waktu niy hahahaha

end of school hols...back to school on Monday =)

Happy (belated) New Year..

udah 2008 lagi, kayaknya baru kemaren taun baruan...

ngomongin taun baru, pasti sedikit banyak dikaitin ama resolusi, rencana, planning, harapan or whatever you call it..

banyak orang bilang, resolusi itu banyak ga terealisasinya, percaya ga kalo 100% resolusi baru, ga sampe 50% kebanyakan yang kejadian...

pernah baca buku stumbling of happiness? rasanya itu bisa dikaitin ama perencanaan resolusi di taun baru ini..di salah satu chapter bukunya disebutin kalo manusia punya kemampuan buat ngebayangin masa depan...bukan ngeramal lho =) tapi ngebayangin gimana nikmatnya kalo rencana" kita terwujud, dan cenderung...kemampuan berimaginasi itu jauh lebih nikmat dibanding setelah semua bener" kejadian...

jadi misal: resolusi taun baru ini..kita ngebayangin untuk ngedapetin kerjaan baru di mana kerjaan skrg sucks abis; yang lembur ga karuan, gaji kecil, kolega ga asyik, ngerencanain liburan ke Florence gratis bareng pacar =), makan di resto super mahal, ato bisa beli mobil baru impian...

asyik banget rasanya ngebayangin kalo tar dapet kerjaan impian, udah bisa liburan ke Florence apalagi kalo bareng suami impian, secara itu impian kita dari dulu, makan di French Riviera, ato ngerasain ga perlu lagi ngejer" bus pagi" or sore" abis capek kerja..

tapi abis itu??? kok rasanya ga seasyik imaginasi kita ya? ato kesannya biasa aja abis semua kejadian itu? balik bosen lagi...balik buat imaginasi baru lagi buat mengurangi 'kekecawaan' bayangan asli setelah semua kejadian..dan kepikiran kayak gini...is that all? yaaaaah...

begitu juga ama g....ada ato bisa dibilang banyak resolusi taun ini yang ga kejadian....kebanyakan resolusi, ato kurang usaha jadinya?
dan rasanya setiap taun sering kejadian begitu, ngebuat g rada hesitant untuk bener" mikirin apa yaaa resolusi g taun ini?? yang ada resolusi taun lalu masih bertahan di kepala.

dodol bener yach..anyway...Happy (belated) New Year everyone......hope y'all have a whole lot year better =) and all in all....semoga resolusinya makin terwujud sampe waktu evaluasi di penghujung taun ini....