Here’s what happened today. I was in my class, invigilating the first exam of the year.
It was a dreaded four periods, which means 160 minutes doing nothing but walk around, peering at answers the students were giving. When I’m tired doing that, it would be stiing down staring at the students. Invigilating exams means that you are not allowed to do anything but observe those taking the exams and ensure the whole exam goes by smoothly. It’s a relaxing job, but a tiring one which is why I do not favour invigilating public examinations which pays little, but could kill me to death. Teachers are paid an extra RM250-RM400 for invigilating exams such as PMR, SPM or STPM. If they received more, it would be due to their mileage claim.
Back to my story, while I was bored to death, I heard a cracking sound. When I turned and walked around, it stopped, but when I was at the end of the class, it started yet again.
Now that’s a sign something’s up. Students, despite their age aren’t that smart in cheating. Those that get away with it, are brilliant and not mentioning brave, but most end up getting caught and hauled into the disciplinary room for action.
Anyway, to find the source of the sound, I sat down at an empty chair and closed my eyes with my hands, making it seem like I’m taking some ‘shut eye’ time. The method worked, and the cracking sound started. From the gaps in my fingers, I could see this one student bending his body down reaching for something in his bag.
I remove my finger, and he stopped what he was doing, pretending to rest his head on the table, while trying slowly to remove his hands from the bag he was ‘korek-ing’.
I looked at him, and smiled. Sitting, I asked “What’s in the bag?” and he shook his head looking worried. I swear I could him sweat. I’ve heard that some students think I’m intimidating. I asked again while smiling “Tell me what’s in the bag, or I’ll have to take it from you“. He looked at me worried, and kept quiet. So I asked him again, “Is it food? because if it’s food, I’m hungry too, so please don’t eat alone…Sharing is caring.“, in which he smiled showing off his dimple while nodding his head.
After getting his response, I said “Well, I know you are hungry, and I am hungry too, but let’s wait for another hour before we dig into those nasi lemak you have. You are sharing with me, right?“
The student gave me smile, depicting how he was less tensed now.
Well, I let him loose without checking his bag because I knew this student had nothing major hidden in his bag. When I announced they could now have recess, friends of this particular student rushed to him like vultures, tearing something that looked like a plastic bag filled with ‘Keropok Jagung‘. I noticed he managed to salvage only one for himself, and he told me that his friends already knew about the keropok, and was already asking for it before I walked in class.
When I started this tale, I had a motive, but since this is sort of like a delayed post (where I typed it as a draft and kept it for a few days before continuing), I lost ‘that motive’.
Anyway, in regards to the ‘keropok jagung‘ story, like they say, sharing is caring… or isn’t it?
p/s I’m a huge fan of that ‘keropok jagung’ as well. Used to finish dozens of it when I was at my grandpa’s house.