It's been my second day on the job, and so far I've mainly been doing some reading up on company policies and still figuring out how everything works around here. Also been following the other instructors to their after-school classes to observe how they run the class and get ideas... although I think I won't have much problem planning my own classes and what to teach, considering I have experience in teaching kids and planning classes already. My main issue is going to be knowing how to deal with the kids. From the two classes I've sat in so far, I've learned that some of these kids can be very very noisy.... some kids tend to yell answers to questions instead of say it in a normal tone. And some kids also like to walk around the class and touch the stuff the instructors use. The good thing though, is that they usually are involved and listening, just superbly restless and sometimes disruptive. Although luckily, most of them are pretty ok. Just one or two hooligans in each class...but those one or two are enough to drive any person nuts. :Þ
Another thing is the driving. Oh man, this morning the traffic jam was super bad because it was raining. It took me one and a half hours to reach my office from my house, when during no jams, I can reach there in less than 40 minutes! It made me 15 minutes late for work, which of course made me worry coz' I'm new and don't wanna be late to work on my 2nd day! But as it turns out, some others were even later than me... and since it's a small company they said they're ok with us being a few minutes late. *Whew!* Thank God for small companies!
By the time I come back from work though, I'm really super pooped. But for some reason, it makes me want to pray more, I guess because I know I need that 'recharge' after work that somehow I get from praying. So I took a little time out after I came back today to just ask God to help me be smart in knowing how to deal with troublesome kids when I start my classes, and to be a good instructor (who knows what I'm talking about), and for things to remain good between me and my colleagues, coz' thank God they're all pretty nice people. All in all, I think I am really blessed to be where I am, so much that the horrible jams really aren't that big a deal.
One cute thing about the job is that all the Mad Science instructors have to come up with their own Mad Scientist names, which are of course funny names that the children can remember easily. Most of the people who've worked here before, from what I heard, chose names that invoke a sense of 'madness' about the instructor, like Crazy Mary, or Dr. Looney, or Wacky Vicky (I like that one!). Some of the instructors still here choose shortened forms of their own names like JJ. So I had to whrack my brains to come up with a good name for myself. The easiest choice, I wanted to be really 'mad', would be Crazy Carol.... but that's just too unoriginal, and I feel that I don't want any 'crazy'-like words in my name coz' I don't really want kids to think all scientists are nutcases. And certainly, even though I am a bit nuts sometimes, I don't think I'm nuts enough to play the role of a 'crazy' person all the time. And certainly I don't want to either. Just way too unnatural! :P
But according to the policy manual I read, instructors can choose 'scientific words' to put in their Mad Science names, eg. Electron Erica or Polymer Paula, which I think is a better idea than making myself sound like a kooky scientist although of course, it would still come out sounding quite corny. So I thought and thought of what would be a nice scientific word to go with my name. I considered Cosmic Carol, Complex Carol and Chemical Carol.... but then finally decided to go for Corona Carol, firstly because it sounds pretty cool, and secondly, because of it's inherent meaning. Of course, most kids wouldn't know what the heck a corona is, but I would naturally explain it to them. A corona is the outermost layer of the sun's atmosphere, which forms coloured circles around the sun and is the only part that can be seen during a total eclipse of the sun. So basically, it's part of the sun, and I would just explain to the kids that I like to be a sunny, happy person, so that's why I choose the name. :Þ But when I think about it, there are several other inherent spiritual meanings for myself (which I won't tell the kids, of course, but it's just for myself to remember). Bible says Christians are to be the 'salt' and LIGHT to the world', which is to say, try to follow God's commandments and impact the people around us in a positive way, that may hopefully even lead them to Christ. Of course, the sun is the main source of light for the planet, without which nothing can survive. Also, the corona is the only part of the sun visible during a total eclipse... which is to say, in complete darkness, the corona is the only light. And also the corona is part is part of the sun, which sounds like the Son... ie. Son of God. In essense, for me, it would a reminder that I am a Christian and Jesus should still be the bigger part of my life, and that I should try to be the 'light in the darkness' in my workplace and in class by upholding godly principles and showing love to the people around me, especially the kids. Ceh wah? Is that like, super corny or what? :Þ Of course, it ain't a easy thing to live by, but I think I do wanna start off in my work reminding myself of that, and it's nice to have a funky new name that serves as a reminder to myself..... even though it IS super corny. But ah well, part and parcel of the job so what to do? :Þ Might as well make it meaningful lah!
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