JOURNAL WRITING (FIRST WEEK)

DATE

: 1ST February 2015 5TH February 2015

TITLE

: ADJUSTING TO NEW SURROUNDINGS

Problem
This is my first week of practicum. Me and four other friends went for our practicum in Sekolah
Kebangsaan Kuala Besut, Besut, Terengganu. This is my third practicum. In my second practicum, I think we did
well in terms of adjusting ourselves to the surroundings and being close to the school staffs. But still, in the first
week, there will be some difficulties in adjusting to the surroundings, mainly to get close to the teachers and
staffs.
Analysis
We reported to the schools office at 7.25 in the morning on the first day. Firstly, we went to the weekly
morning assembly. During the assembly, the headmaster invited us to come to the stage and introduced
ourselves. After the assembly, we were invited to the office by a school staff to the headmasters room. Then, we
were given a short briefing by the headmaster, Mrs. Norhayati. We introduced ourselves to the headmaster and
then discussed some things with her such as the background of the school, the pupils and the teachers. She
then asked us to meet the PK 1 for a briefing on classes and schedules. We were given our own schedule and
she also told us about the students of the class that we will be teaching. I was assigned to teach English to class
4A for 10 periods a week and Music to class 4A and 4B, one period each.
We then met and greeted the teachers and introduced ourselves to them. All of them gave us a very
warm welcome. We were asked to stay in the library because there are not much room in the staffroom. So, it
was actually quite hard for us to get close and mingle with the teacher as often as possible. Actually, there are
only female teachers in the staffroom. Meanwhile, the male teachers were scattered all around the school. This
makes it harder for us to meet with them. The only time when we can meet and talk with them is during the
recess time.

Possible Solutions
1.

In order to solve this problem, we try to greet the teachers whenever we meet them. Besides, we try to

hang out with them during recess and talk a lot with them. We also occasionally ask questions about the school
and ask for guidance in teaching and preparing lessons.
2.

We try and complete our works and lesson when we were at home so that at school, we will have more

time to maybe have a chat with the teachers and staff.

Time taken to solve the problem

We took just a short time to adjust to the schools surroundings. But we may took quite a long time to get
close to the teachers and staffs.
Further actions
After the problem was solved, we need to appreciate the situation and opportunity by trying as hard as
we can to get used to the schools surroundings and the schools staff. We need to communicate a lot with them
and get used to them.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, I think it is not hard to adjust to a new surroundings, as long as we try hard and always
prepared to change ourselves to be a better teacher and communicator in the future life as a teacher.