My prayers go to Makcik ...

Mala's mother aka Hamid's mother in-law had safely undergone her by-pass operation at Penang hospital on 10th July 2014. When Mala smsed me about it I was so worried for her. All I could do was told Mala to give her a big, tight hug from me. I could picture her serene, calm face and her quick smile. It was a Thursday. Every Thursday my school will hold a surah Yaasin recital at 7:15am before the morning assembly. So, on that morning, I recited the magical surah for her, Abang, my mother in-law, my late parents, my boys and also for an old friend who was celebrating his birthday today. Mala smsed later that she had already entered the operating theatre at 11:00am. I offered a prayer for a successful surgery. Mala smsed again that Makcik finally came out of the operating theatre at 6:00pm. The doctors discovered more than 2 blockages. She finally regained consciousness at around 2:00pm on Friday, 11th July 2014. She took quite some time to recover consciousness ....

Why am I concerned? Elderly people have always a special place in my heart. Their fragility... their nostalgic memories ... their sentiments about their children and family ..... some elderly people are very special to me. Makcik, Mala's mother, is very close to me. I enjoyed her company and she always had a ready smile for me. The late Makcik, Pak Din's - a friend of Noor - always had me concerned for her welfare. Azizi's parents - Noor's brother in-law's parents - meant a lot to me too. Pakcik loved it when we invited him over for "makan-makan" and would always referred to me as "Kak Long", referring to my position in Noor's family. My mother in-law has my utmost respect as she is Noor's mother. Even though sometimes we had issues due to our different backgrounds ... she deserved my respect just because she is my mother in-law. That was why I drove down to Melaka when I heard that she was warded. So many elderly people to acknowledge ... They may get on your nerves most times but more often than not, once you have time to reflect, they are just worried about you. Thus, I bear no ill-feelings and respect them more.

Oh yes ... I must not forget Pak Wan, who was already in his sixties.Status dead or alive is unknown since we lost contact over the years and his number was no longer reachable. He became a friend while we were doing our Haj back in 2005. He was Noor's room mate in Madinah and although separate rooms in Mekah, their rooms were just next to each other. He used to be the HR manager for a large company in KL. He was from KL. He attached himself to Noor and slowly to me as Noor was my mahram. So, we tagged along together. He came alone. Slowly we got into the habit of sharing newspaper. He used to buy the English version and would wait for me at the hotel's lobby to share the paper. One day, he talked about his late wife who passed away in his car on the way to the hospital. He even took out his wallet to show her lovely picture. She was still young and they had a baby girl then. Pak Wan never remarried. He took care of his daughter And now she is a doctor with 2 children. He would follow Noor for the throwing of the stone and tawaf. During our departure to return to Malaysia, we were stranded at Jeddah airport for 3 hours. So, to kill time, both of us wandered to the restaurants available at the airport and I was commenting I was hungry. I did not carry money with me only loose change. Pak Wan bought drinks, cakes and sandwiches and we sat at one of the chairs eating them. Noor was quite upset as if I had taken advantage of Pak Wan. I said Pak Wan wanted to give me a treat and I concurred happily. We sat and ate our food satisfyingly. We went to see him after the Haj with the boys when we were in KL. He was not well then. It was our last meeting and contact with Noor. He will always have a place in my heart and prayers.

Another elderly people that deserved to be mentioned are the two ladies from my Terawih session prayers. Every year we would meet as pre-destined. Every year we would part with the same phrase - "Jika kita tak jumpa tahun depan, maknanya kita dah tak ada." So far they are still around. When we met up during the early Ramadhan, I went up to them and kissed their hands. They hugged me tightly as if I was a long, lost daughter. You feel much loved and welcomed by not family but strangers who have become a part of my life. By nature, I am an aloof, unfriendly person and not quite adept at my social skills. Yet, over the years, they would always give me advice, remind me gently whatever they thought I did was not correct, got involve with my life through their questioning sessions ....

So, why am I concerned? I am very worried not for the surgery but for the recovery period. Look at Abang, my half-brother - from a heart by-pass to lung infection to throat injury and finally amputated toes.... and he thought all he needed was to correct his heart  ;-{  ..... In my nightly prayers, I can only pray that they are given the patience, strength and resilience to face their health issues .... I hope Makcik will recover soon to celebrate the Eid-ul-Fitri with her family. She is in Penang now so it is not possible for me to visit her unless Noor is free to accompany me there. Thus, I can only pray for her and for her family, especially Mala, my sister in-law, to face this trial with patience and faith that Makcik WILL be alright. It's Ramadhan .... its a magical month ... :-))

What I had learned from being a CT ...

My task as a the Cooperating Teacher (CT) ended on 26 June 2014 after almost 4 months. In reality I did not do anything much except observing the practical teachers, evaluate them, had a talk and imparting my experience and my opinion regarding their classroom performance. Otherwise, whenever I was free, I spent time getting to know them. After conferring with their supervisor on the last day, I handed over the files, the reports and the marks. Well, I tried to be fair in evaluating them. There was a glitch in the arrangement of supervising them. I was only supposed to be in-charge of only 2 out of 3 i.e. Liza and Zaini. Unfortunately, Shazliyana's CT had a minor stroke and I had to take over her task too. Anyway, all this while I was in-charge of the 3 of them trying to cover-up for the other teacher whose health issues deteriorated from May.

So, what had I gained over the months they were here? The trainees were so young (Akmal's age) about 23 years of age. What was nice about them was the fact that they were willing to learn and be guided. After the second observation, I was very dissatisfied with their performance and attitude. Some teachers had also complained about their involvement in the clubs and societies that they were required to serve. I withheld their observation report for almost a fortnight trying to figure out how to reprimand these trainees. By nature, I am not a diplomatic person and I can be very forthright and just speak my mind. I guess I offend some people through this. Thus, one day, I just sat with them and told them what I expected of them, what they should at least try to achieve after their stint here and made their practicum much more worthwhile. Alhamdulillah, they were open-hearted about it, accepted the reprimands, the guidelines, the advice .... that at the end of their practicum, the other teachers in the staffroom declared them the best trainees we ever had !!!  :-D))  I was so proud. Some teachers laughingly joked - "See who their CT is !!" Ha...Ha...Ha...

Our last day together was on the field for Sports Day. They actively participated and decorated their Sport's house tents, took part in the teacher's event and even cheered for their house. We just sat talking and taking photos. They finally revealed that initially, they were also afraid of me as I looked so serious and no nonsense attitude. Not only students had this fear but also them. Huh???? Oh well, my reputation precedes me. By now they were glad I was their CT and had a deep respect for my professional attitude.

Back to the question posed earlier - what had I gained from my stint as CT ? I learned how to handle a delicate situation in how to talk to these young, future teachers without diffusing their interest and enthusiasm in their profession. I learned to be accommodating and helpful guiding them without suffocating them or mollycoddling them. I learned to guide and not lead. I learned to lower my expectations. I learned that they came with new methodology and that their teaching style now was more relaxing, open-handed, leaning towards facilitating instead of teaching. At the end of their practicum stint, I guess all of us learned something from each other.

Before we hugged and said goodbye, I wished them all the best in their chosen career and hoped that they would uphold the teaching profession. They went around the field thanking all the teachers who were still around and taking photographs with the students. Finally, they shed tears of leaving .... So, I guess, their practicum stint was worthwhile after all.... :-)))  As a farewell gift, I had given them a hand-made crochet bookmark courtesy of Wah. My staff was surprised that I, as the CT, gave them a token of remembrance. They had come to me for a season and somehow or rather, had touched my life. They had tasted my cooking, of course - chicken sandwich, macaroni blackpepper, almond rocher (courtesy of Ikram and Syafiq), apples ... - I treated them like my own children. In return this is what they had given me and a touching note of appreciation.

The box of chocolates - they said this was all they could afford - I thanked them and told them it was the thought that counted .. ;-))

I did not do much yet they were so appreciative. I was so touched ... ;-}

I hope this is the first and last stint as a CT .... ;-)