Almost a year, I have been working as a teacher in the heart of Johor. I’ve been sent to the most busy school (IMHO). My Guru Besar is GB cemerlang and always push us to do work beyond ordinary expectation.

In the first half game (first sem), I was literally and figuratively wilted. I thought of quitting. Seeing others are making moolah from private unis and schools. I was tempted. Since  I did nothing impressive in my first half game. Just mistakes and a lot of yellow cards. I wanted to quit so much. But my fiance told me to “Hold on. Be strong. There are many jobless people out there who are willing to fight tooth and nail to be in your place. Plus, you always wanted to be a teacher, right?”

True indeed. My friend Tasneem said “The first year is always the hardest but you’ll get used to it sooner or later”

Thank god I managed to destress with help from the angels around me.

So here are the tricks that I learnt to handle admin and teaching work:

1. Always ask around: One should always ask around “What should I do?” so that I won’t miss any assignment. I was told by my boss that I’m slow and all. It was harsh. But previously, life has taught me worst. I’ve experienced the worst year of my life. So, accept any criticism and be bold to ask around.
2. Printed lesson plan: At first, I did it slowly. I took an hour to do 4 lesson plans. So slow. I know. But later, as I found the English work books, it made my life much easier. Then I learned that printed lesson plan is wayyyy easier and faster than the traditional pen and paper method. Just copy and paste. Print.Voila! Saves time and energy.
3. Laundry saves a week agony: I hate doing laundry especially during monsoon. It makes my clothes smell bad. So I sent my clothes to the laundry shop and two hours have been saved.
4. Get a locker/cupboard: Teachers, whose place ain’t messy? Hands up! So if you managed to ‘chop’ your tempat in bilik guru earlier, find a locker as well. There are many files and books to be kept in a year.

Anymore ideas?

Update: Syada posted a very comprehensive and concise blog post about this topic. Find it out here.

Thinking of complaning you have to wrok every Saturday and Sunday? Like Syada said, complaint never makes anyone attractive.

I thank god my school did LDP on stress management. Thanks to my LPD supervisor (kak susu).