My First Week As Ketua Waden
Welcome to the new year!
I ended last year victoriously &, drawing from my 2 year teaching experience & imagination, I had a pretty good idea of what I want to do with my English L. classes, my English L. panel, the English L. Society & the school magazine the following year.
During the holidays, I spent a substantial amount of time reflecting & playing different scenarios repeatedly in my head.
I was confident in bringing into reality a lot of new things/ideas to my 4 main portfolios this year.
Suddenly, in the final month of 2010, I was appointed Chief Warden when I volunteered to just be a Warden.
I thought that I should be making some money (RM240 warden allowance) since I'm staying back at school so often during the weekends & during the holidays.
The principal & other key people thought that I'd be an ideal candidate for Chief Warden.
I was apprehensive but I decided to accept the challenge since I was promised support from the administration & the incumbent Chief Warden.
Come the first week, I was fully immersed myself in my duties as a CW.
I went down to the hostels early for the first 2 mornings & stayed there until late for the first 2 nights.
I was at the hostels every day making sure that the students were okay & they had everything they needed. I constantly reminded them about cleanliness & care for hostel property.
I organised my first spot check on Thursday night & I was down every night checking on the students in the classrooms during night self-study.
I prepared as much of the documents/forms required to run the hostels & its programmes as I could with what I could find.
I was going above & beyond the chief warden's call of duty partly because I wanted to learn as much as I could about the life & duty of a warden & also because I wanted to prove myself to the other wardens & set a good example. Especially since I was never a warden before.
To tell you the truth, it's tiring. Very VERY Tiring.
Most nights I slept late & woke up early.
I still had to teach & run the English Panel. Soon, I will assemble the English L. Society & get the School Magazine committee moving.
During the first week, I felt very inadequate because the students did not fear me & I didn't have instant command.
The students will still do everything I say but they wont do it at an instant & there was no reverent fear they had with the previous CW.
For many nights, I pondered if I should change my ways & show off my temper & be rough on them just to gain instant command & fear.
It would be a great boost to the ego to have them cower in fear in my presence & I would also gain instant respect from my colleagues (coz we teachers secretly love to torture students). My cruel exploits might even evolve into urban legends & be spread from generation to generation.
Very appealing isn't it?
But I dont want to leave a legacy of fear. I want their respect & obedience but I dont mind working for it & earning it instead of forcing a pretence of it out of self-preservation.
I dont want to teach them that violence is okay when you have power.
I want to be a reasonable man. I will reason with them. I will warn them first before I punish them.
When I punish them, I want them to understand that I'm doing it because I care for them. I want to teach them what is right. Then, I'll wack the stars out of them.
But I will not touch the girls. I will slap the boys like dogs but I will not slap a girl. I'll probably only go as far as a rotan or pulling of ears.
I dont want to show that females can be beaten when they are wrong (which is what many of the men do).
Anyway, the girls are so nice to me & they're the most obedient & hardworking at all times!
Let me end by sharing with you my vision for the hostels as Chief Warden.
My Short Term Plans:
- students have a mattress, pillow & cabinet each
- students have enough to eat
- students are quiet during night study
- the hostels are clean & loved
My Long Term Plans:
- walkie-talkies & flash-lights for principal, PK HEM, CW, wardens on duty & guards
- more gazebos in the hostel grounds
- decorative statues/sculptures in the hostel grounds
- a gym
- a dance studio
- a storehouse for recreational equipment
- a comprehensive mini-library
I ended last year victoriously &, drawing from my 2 year teaching experience & imagination, I had a pretty good idea of what I want to do with my English L. classes, my English L. panel, the English L. Society & the school magazine the following year.
During the holidays, I spent a substantial amount of time reflecting & playing different scenarios repeatedly in my head.
I was confident in bringing into reality a lot of new things/ideas to my 4 main portfolios this year.
Suddenly, in the final month of 2010, I was appointed Chief Warden when I volunteered to just be a Warden.
I thought that I should be making some money (RM240 warden allowance) since I'm staying back at school so often during the weekends & during the holidays.
The principal & other key people thought that I'd be an ideal candidate for Chief Warden.
I was apprehensive but I decided to accept the challenge since I was promised support from the administration & the incumbent Chief Warden.
Come the first week, I was fully immersed myself in my duties as a CW.
I went down to the hostels early for the first 2 mornings & stayed there until late for the first 2 nights.
I was at the hostels every day making sure that the students were okay & they had everything they needed. I constantly reminded them about cleanliness & care for hostel property.
I organised my first spot check on Thursday night & I was down every night checking on the students in the classrooms during night self-study.
I prepared as much of the documents/forms required to run the hostels & its programmes as I could with what I could find.
I was going above & beyond the chief warden's call of duty partly because I wanted to learn as much as I could about the life & duty of a warden & also because I wanted to prove myself to the other wardens & set a good example. Especially since I was never a warden before.
To tell you the truth, it's tiring. Very VERY Tiring.
Most nights I slept late & woke up early.
I still had to teach & run the English Panel. Soon, I will assemble the English L. Society & get the School Magazine committee moving.
During the first week, I felt very inadequate because the students did not fear me & I didn't have instant command.
The students will still do everything I say but they wont do it at an instant & there was no reverent fear they had with the previous CW.
For many nights, I pondered if I should change my ways & show off my temper & be rough on them just to gain instant command & fear.
It would be a great boost to the ego to have them cower in fear in my presence & I would also gain instant respect from my colleagues (coz we teachers secretly love to torture students). My cruel exploits might even evolve into urban legends & be spread from generation to generation.
FEAR ME B***HES!!! |
But I dont want to leave a legacy of fear. I want their respect & obedience but I dont mind working for it & earning it instead of forcing a pretence of it out of self-preservation.
I dont want to teach them that violence is okay when you have power.
I want to be a reasonable man. I will reason with them. I will warn them first before I punish them.
When I punish them, I want them to understand that I'm doing it because I care for them. I want to teach them what is right. Then, I'll wack the stars out of them.
But I will not touch the girls. I will slap the boys like dogs but I will not slap a girl. I'll probably only go as far as a rotan or pulling of ears.
I dont want to show that females can be beaten when they are wrong (which is what many of the men do).
Anyway, the girls are so nice to me & they're the most obedient & hardworking at all times!
Let me end by sharing with you my vision for the hostels as Chief Warden.
My Short Term Plans:
- students have a mattress, pillow & cabinet each
- students have enough to eat
- students are quiet during night study
- the hostels are clean & loved
My Long Term Plans:
- walkie-talkies & flash-lights for principal, PK HEM, CW, wardens on duty & guards
- more gazebos in the hostel grounds
- decorative statues/sculptures in the hostel grounds
- a gym
- a dance studio
- a storehouse for recreational equipment
- a comprehensive mini-library