St. George’s College (Week #41) – Day #187

Date for Entry: (Friday 29 September 2023)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (September 2023)

[T1, W:04 – D:19, (Td:1)*].

**Pimento bag

Dear Diary,

    I got to Valsayn with one Georgian. I got into the office feeling a bit sick. I was the only one in there. As soon as I signed, Miss Patel told me that she was looking around for prices for a tenor pan. She heard about a powder-coated pan for $4900.00 and a chrome one from someone else that was for $3900.00

    I went to write my entry for yesterday. A Form 1 student came and gave me a heavy plastic bag of pimentos and a nice hug before leaving to go to her class. I went to the music and got some images drawn and taken for my lesson plan book for the Form 2s.

    I had 1F this morning and they took long. Miss Roberts came at the start of the third period. She told me to keep the children waiting in the lines outside before taking them inside. The full lesson #2 was received by the children. I gave them adhesive labels to stick onto their red books before collecting them. Only four girls did not have their books today. The books were reviewed and returned after during recess time.

    I got the Form 2 rhythm and Conducting exercises printed and divided into the class folders. Miss Roberts couldn’t find her book to tell me the topics that she said were missing from teaching the Form 2s when they were in Form 1.

    Going back into the office Ms Mohammed asked me if I could play a piece of music for them during lunch. They were having a special farewell function for “DD”. I told her that I would have a private class during lunch at 12:30 p.m. when the function should begin. She agreed when I offered to perform a private one in the office after school.

    “Yash” met me in the office. I checked the homework first and then we went into the topics of the day. He had lesson three which was notes and their values. There was a lot of homework because he had some that I saw he did not do. He completed the majority there and the instruments one was to do for homework. I told him that he had to do the research and

    While everyone else was in the library for the “DD’s” farewell function, a lady came into the office to collect her con. Thank God that Miss Chote was able to see about her. The function finished late and the OJTs came in with food and cake in their hands. None for me, lol.

    Waited a while for the students in the music room during the seventh period but they weren’t coming. I went to see Miss Gittens because I didn’t speak to her for the day. I had to leave and go see if 2F came. They were not in the music room so I took my bag and went to their Home Room I was angry at the entrance but they began to explain they were in trouble and didn’t know if to go to the music room or to stay.

    With all of the remaining time, I did three questions from the book and then time was over. I only had fifteen minutes with them. At the end of class, I gave Mr Bishop a picture of my attendance receipt since they said that none of their Form Teachers came to take the roll that evening. I got a tenor pan to the office and played “Jesu Joys of Man’s Desiring” for “DD”. She gave me a nice comment after. The pan was brought back to the music room and I locked it back up. 

    After packing my bags, I shared the brownie I got from the office with Miss Gittens. They probably had a special breakfast for “DD”. I didn’t know and wasn’t invited but that’s okay. Before we left the staffroom to go home, I shared my pimentos with Susan, “Maria”, and Miss.

 

Daryl Zion M. Ali

(7:38 am – 4:32 pm)

Yesterday: (8:02 am – 3:05 pm)

St. George’s College (Week #41) – Day #185

Date for Entry: (Wednesday 27 September 2023)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (September 2023)

[T1, W:04 – D:17, (Td:5)*].

Dear Diary,

    No one was in the in the office this morning. “Marlon” in front of me on the pavement into the compound. I went to the music room and saw two tenor pans and more tables and chairs. There was no sign of Miss Roberts. VAPA should be free at this time or during the first two periods on Day Five. I had a lot of walking up and down the corridor.

    1L came with their homework. Full lesson two was completed. I gave them the rest of the second exercise on page eight to do for homework and showed them the pitches for the white keys of the piano along with the musical alphabet. The students liked how I lifted the keyboard from the stand to the teacher’s table and back.

    After recess was over, 2L took too long to come and then we had to go back to their Home Room because Mr Omar came to do some drilling in the wall. The class was too noisy. We took the full double-period review of the Form 1 exam paper from Term 3. The full paper was revised.

    During lunchtime, “Yash” came late. We had to stop and review more of the same lessons. More review of the treble staff and its pitches was required. We could not do the test planned for today again. I gave him a worksheet to label the pitches on the treble staff. He did some of the work and I gave him the rest of it for homework.

    Daysha was telling everyone that she was leaving. I heard her each of the five times she told everyone outside of the office. I decided to have lunch after lunch in the kitchen. I got word from Miss Gittens that evening that everyone would have clinical supervision for two different classes each on different levels.

 

Daryl Zion M. Ali

(7:50 am – 4:05 pm)

St. George’s College (Week #41) – Day #184

Date for Entry: (Tuesday 26 September 2023)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (September 2023)

[T1, W:04 – D:16, (Td:4)*].

**Registration for the CXC Music conference.

Dear Diary,

    This morning I had some time to wait at home. I got up earlier than usual because I was so excited to get to DCFA. It’s been a long time since I left the school (Friday 13^th March 2019) on the day of the first recorded case of COVID-19 in Trinidad. Getting to the Cheeseman Building I  was mistaken for a worker. They asked me to help them carry in some cases of water. (The time of arrival is the time written below along with the time of departure from the compound.)

    Only one lady was there and I saw Mr Sharma coming down the steps soon after. We were both given the attendance to sign. I thought it would have been a big, long-form it was a simple row. They took us to Lecture Room 3 and we helped them step up the classroom area. There was a long wait to start due to technical difficulties. Some familiar faces were there. I was surprised that the cell phone I got during my Degree still remembered the Wi-Fi.

    Mr Sharma did the first half of the conference which was grading the conference. We learned that grading the students’ composition too high or too low can get a teacher kicked out of the CXC system and they would have to go through an interview with the Curriculum Officer or some other official concerning the marks. Everyone was split into different groups and had to assess a composition. I think some of them were done by Mr Sharma. We had to look at some criteria. Some of the groups were giving some shocking low marks but we understood once we saw the score.

    A recess was given after Mr. Sharma’s half of the presentation was completed. I met John from Tunapuna and I also met Andrea from TIPICA in the restroom area. Andrea and I went upstairs because the toilets were not working. Strange. I used to use the restroom upstairs because of the overpopulation below.

    The second half of the conference dealt with timetabling. For this part of the session, I was sitting in the very last row of the Lecture Room and John was sitting next to me with Mr Barry. Surprising to see Miss Roberts decide to sit in the same chair from earlier, lol.

    The lady was extremely good. I think I would have liked her as a teacher in my lifetime. She seemed like a real teacher. She drew a flat triangle connecting the four words History to the top, Theory below, Practical to the right, and SBA to the left. My hand was very tired rushing down all of the notes that the lady was speaking. I felt like the back row was better so no one would see all the notes I was writing down like mad. There were seven pages in total.

    In the end, it took me a while to leave. A lot of the audience left the compound quickly. I met Mr Roger after a while. I didn’t see Mr Reed or Mr Sheldon in the Festival Library. I met some of my older friends Melissa, Isiah, Marsha and Marissa. They left and I remained in the corridor. I sat there waiting for Daddy to come and tried to work out rhythm exercises for conducting my Form 2s. It was a blessing. I thanked Miss Paul again after returning home that evening after Bible study.

 

Daryl Zion M. Ali

(7:54 am – 12:50 pm)

St. George’s College (Week #40) – Day #183

Date for Entry: (Friday 22 September 2023)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (September 2023)

[T1, W:03 – D15, (Td:3)*].

**Picture from Republic Day playoff

Dear Diary,

    Came to Valsayn choked up in the maxi and got wet in the rain as soon as I crossed the road. I had to make a run for it. By the time I got to the office door, I was sixty-seven per cent soaked down. I thought that I would have been late to perform the St. George’s College song time would have gone and I missed it.

    When I got into the office, I saw the Cadets. Their officer told me which type of group they were when I asked. It was nice to see that two female Form 2 students of mine were part of their troop. Arela had the National flag hanging from her right shoulder and Miss Rampersad had the St. George’s flag hanging from her left shoulder. had the I got paper towel sheets to dry my hair, come it and dry my hands. I saw Mr. Ustash with “GG” and it seemed as if they were having a late start.

    I got my music bookstand out and set it up along with a George’s Song Booklet that I made and waited in the corridor. Mrs Jaikaran was now pulling into the compound. I went to the hall with ‘GG’ and Miss Sawh. Before the national anthem was to be played, I went up onto the stage and placed the bookstand in front of a tenor pan I felt comfortable playing. Seth and ‘Vanna’ came up to play the national anthem. The rest of the programme was long and boring after playing the College song. There was a nice dance part and a group picture with the teachers and the principal.

    I returned to the office to have breakfast. Did not have to teach for the rest of the day with certain things occurring the in office to me. I got to update my teaching log and took note of the classes that were missed. I did some paper stapling for Miss Mustapha during recess. Before the MMT meeting today during the fourth and fifth periods began, I gave the copies to Miss Gittens to give to Miss Mustapha.

    I did not like the sore throat that remained since Wednesday. In the evening, there were some loud arguments in the principal office. It drove me out of the office. And I went to the staffroom to free myself of that dissonance. Classes were soon interrupted by the distribution of cake. We learned that it would be the principal’s 54^th birthday during the weekend. I got Genesis #17 reading and sonnet completed while the office was piled up with people and students for the cake. They used my tray for books to carry the cake.

    I stayed with Susan There was the absence of  Miss Gittens. We were looking for her. Once Miss came back from the staffroom, I wanted to check in the art room. She wasn’t there. We stayed for the Zomba class in the hall and then rode out “Maria”. I got two more slices of extra cake they offered me in the office. I decided the two slices that I got were one for Miss Gittens and one for Miss Paul that I ate in the staffroom.

    In Tunapuna, while waiting in the car with Andrew, Miss Patel called me and asked me about pan lessons for ‘Savvy’ and her brother. We should discuss this on Wednesday next week. Looking forward to the Music CXC conference at DCFA next week.

Link(s):

• Republic Day Celebration Pictures.**

Daryl Zion M. Ali

(7:49 am – 3:43 pm)

St. George’s College (Week #40) – Day #182

Date for Entry: (Thursday 21 September 2023)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (September 2023)

[T1, W:03 – D:14, (Td:2)*].

**Pic of chocolate.

Dear Diary,

    This morning I had another late start. The seat in the maxi was very uncomfortable. There was a huge tire below the seat and it had me in a bad posture. The driver did not know the housing route so he turned back, drove back up the road and took the left-side backroads. The traffic piled up and it was a longer wait. Some of us in the back could have led the driver but he wouldn’t have listened.

    As soon as  I got to the UTT compound I went up to the music room immediately to put my bags. Mr Earl escorted me there and opened the room. He decided to clean up one time before leaving. I was also told by him that they are not allowed to clean anything that the students leave below the desk including garbage and belongings. I got the date written on the board and then took my blue log book to sign for the morning.

    I had 2M this morning. They were the last for the Form 2’s to get the note on time signatures. 1: came and they had to finish the introduction. I just gave them the pattern for the treble clef drawing to copy into their books. They were given one staff of their manuscript books to do some more. While they were drawing the clefs into their manuscript book, I decided to write out lesson #2 on the board and then have them copy it after they were finished. I took a pass around and the students were good at their drawings.

    For the music alphabet, everyone commented in amazement when they saw that I lifted the keyboard and brought it to the front of the class. I introduced them to the layout of the keyboard and then discussed the music alphabet. I showed them where the pitch A was and they called out the pitches for me. They were amazed at the way I called the order of letters backwards. Afterwards was the labelling of the pitches. Only two or three did not understand. At the end of class, a student gave me a nice little chocolate before leaving. I had it one time on my way to the washroom at recess.

    When I got to my desk, I found a treble clef worksheet that I was looking for. In the music room, the adapter for the keyboard was not there. I was glad that I did not have to use sound anymore but it might have made a better impact for the students.

    Once recess was over, I had 2F. It’s not nice having a class the day after. It does not give them time to study or prepare the work properly for the next class. Too noisy as usual and we went through the homework. I gave them the note tree to draw and label it in both British and American ‘Fraction names’, along with the number of minim beats each note received.

    It took a long while to get back to the office. ‘Doctor’ found me in the corridor and asked me to play the St. George’s college song next week on Friday. I did not realise lunchtime went by so quickly. The place got so quiet all of a sudden. When I got copies for Miss Gittens along with 200 copies of lead sheets for the St. George’s College Song. I divided all of them up into the six classes that I was teaching and had them shared.

    Aunty Vangy took me out on an out-dinner and grocery trip as we try to do each month. It was the first time going to Tru-Value. Some of the prices were amazing there. I also met Miss Ramsaran around minutes to seven there too in the back. It only had alcoholic wine in the wine section but I guess they put the non-alcoholic in the back as the best for last, lol.

 

Daryl Zion M. Ali

(7:56 am – 3:23 pm)

St. George’s College (Week #40) – Day #181

 Date for Entry: (Wednesday 20 September 2023)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Saturday 29 September 2023)

[T1, W:03 – D:13 , (Td:1)*].

Dear Diary,

    This morning I came to Georges with two girls. I met Miss Donald and Miss Patel was busy printing the new timetables in the office before assembly time. The whole school’s timetables were changed around. Miss Roberts’s timetable was given to me to give her and I was given Miss Paul’s timetable. There was a mix of both Upper and Lower 6 classes in a double period. Only Kiel signed yesterday. I had a laugh when I realised, I forgot to sign.

    Had a long wait for 1F to come down to the music room too. A lot of the boys were happy to see me for some reason. We were able to finish the first lesson which was the introduction. I was proud of the children. They gave a very good attempt at practising drawing the treble clef in their manuscript books. I am at lunch in the third period.

    I recall that before the session began, a Mr Amed brought me a letter from a parent saying that he could do “music” (the practical) but he was allowed to study the theory with us. Another student too bought a letter but I felt bad about ripping it out of their copybook. The most I could have done was take a picture from my phone and print it out. I hope I find the student soon to get them to photocopy it for me.

    At lunchtime, Mis Jaikaran’s son came and he did the first lesson. I kept forgetting his name. It was a slow and steady start. Very good progress made so far. Did a lot of copies for the Form 2 and 3 research to make a scheme of work. I had 2F this afternoon. The time signatures lesson was done and fully received. Not sure if to do a follow-up class on the topic or if to go onto ledger lines.

    That same evening, I got home and fell asleep on the couch. I didn’t get to do any Bible chapter work. The book from the music room was taken back.

 

Daryl Zion M. Ali

(7:43 am – 3:44 pm)

St. George’s College (Week #40) – Day #180

 Date for Entry: (Tuesday 19 September 2023)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Saturday 29 September 2023)

[T1, W:03 – D:12, (Td:06)*].

**Picture of Application Submission

Dear Diary,

    This morning was an early one for sure. I got ready to go to Vashni’s Store with Daddy to get photocopies. We headed down to Port of Spain to get to the Ministry of Education. I said my prayer to have a  smooth process and that this time all of the documents would be acceptable.

    As soon as I  signed and entered the clerk at the desk told me where to go. Only two persons were in front of me. One lady came after me and they took her first before me. Soon after that, the entire sitting area began to be filled up. I met Rondez there and Naveen too. I also saw Mrs. Sawh there in the building by the Secondary section with her husband. They didn’t see me.

    A nice lady handled my documents. Some of the certifications that were asked me on the form were not necessary for the submission the lady told me. She also did not need the CV that I got printed. Naveen left and I was given a sheet of paper as a receipt and was also told to have UWI forward the official transcript to the Ministry.

    Daddy and I left the compound. I felt very accomplished and happy after. We took a long walk in the hot sun through the streets after to get to Daddy’s favourite watch store. His watch had stopped working. When we got to the place it was bared up and a sign was hanging up saying that they had moved the store to Nicolas Towers. Daddy didn’t want to go all the way over there so we went to Churches to get brunch. We took our time there and then headed up to Curepe.

    In Curepe back on the street, my bookbag fell into the street drain. I had to send it back home to wash. No classes were timetabled for me today. It was the best opportunity to go today. I was looking forward to the Church’s letter but I hope that these documents taken today were good enough and satisfactory.

    I got Aunty Fazeela’s number after getting back into school and communicated with her to work out the arrangements for getting UWI to forward the transcript to the Ministry. She sent a form for me to fill out for examinations and I had it sent over to her along with a scanned copy.

 

Daryl Zion M. Ali

(10:42 am – 3:55 pm)

St. George’s College (Week #40) – Day #179

Date for Entry: (Monday 18 September 2023)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Saturday 29 September 2023)

[T1, W:03 – D:11, (Td:5)*].

Dear Diary,

    Came to Valsayn with two Georgian girls in the mail. I  got up late and thought that I’d be late today. When I was walking in, I saw a truck parked up on the side of the Amin office in front and wondered I it was Mrs Rogers-Small. Miss Santana told me that it could not have been her. It was “Mr. Christian” instead. I got breakfasted out of the way quickly. Cleared out the teaching log information by the time and began to do my Bible chapter by the time. Went to set up the music room for class afterwards.

    The Form 4’s had class in there. I decided to work on my ledger lines chart by the time. The Form 1’s came right on time. This was the first time that I got to teach 1M. We finished the first lesson within the double period. Not sure if this was the class that did not get to do the treble clef drawing during class time in manuscripts.

    At recess, Miss Roberts mentioned to me a time change in the timetable. She said that I would have to take 3F since there is a clash with one of the Form 6 classes (on day 5, periods 7-8). I returned to the music room for my final class of the day.

    I had 2L for the fifth and sixth periods. I left the exam papers in the office without remembering so I started them on the time signatures lesson. The full lesson was received including the in-class exercise that was done and corrected. Homework was the first two exercises in their “Orange book with number 2.” Miss Patel visited Miss Roberts during class time and left. I knew it had to be about that timetable change.

    At the end of the teaching session, before leaving the ‘music room’, Miss Roberts told me that there was no change. She said that they gave her the class at the time she was free. Miss was informed after. Was in the art room and the Home Economics students shared the food that they made with us. I remained at my desk in the office after school. I got my CV printed for submission tomorrow and got another bible chapter completed (Genesis 15). I limmed with Susan and Miss for shuttle duty.

    Anthony did not show up to drop off the letter from the church. Later after my Spanish lesson, I took a bath and put together my documents in order. I separated the documents that were printed already and had another folder for documents that still had to be photocopied in the morning. I was placed in the ruby league tonight after finished my lesson. “Super-Reader” spoke with me and I fell asleep in the middle of the conversation.

 

Daryl Zion M. Ali

(7:53 am – 4:00 pm)

St. George’s College (Week #39) – Day #178

Date for Entry: (Friday 15 September 2023)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Saturday 29 September 2023)

[T1, W:02 – D:10, (Td:4)*].

Dear Diary,

    This morning I woke up too tired from yesterday. Got to Curepe late. Daddy bought two pies from the bakery that moved to the bus route side. Three Georgian girls entered the maxi as soon as I sat and we took off. I thought I was going to be late for class but I forgot that there was going to be Religious Instruction that morning. I still went up to the music room to prepare my stuff and probably the room for class. I saw Miss Paul there and she was chatting with Miss Lousha and Mr Raymond.

    We both waited for period one to finish and the students did not come. We had 2L this morning. I had to go and collect them before they did not know to come over to the music room. There were only ten minutes again for the class to be over but attendance was still taken. Miss Paul and I sat in the coffin box room and chatted and there was more consulting to do with topics.

    I sat with her and filled out my teaching log for the six classes that we would have met in between. She saw that they were having a conference for CXC Music and went to ask permission for me could join it. Miss Jones met us sometime afterwards. They both saw what I was doing and I shared a view of my forms with them. I didn’t speak with Miss Gittens until after school. I saw that she was handling a matter with students.

    2M came in the evening. We had a review of form 1 topics which were similar to the 2F topics. Time signatures and barlines, pitches on the treble and bass staves, and ties and slurs. There was a request to review major scales and accidentals. I saw on the attendance form that Suvir marked it as his birthday. I went over and told him happy birthday while the class was working. Their double period went by quickly. Miss Leiba told me that Miss Lousha was sick and went home early. They were taking the shuttle to go back down to Barataria.

    Had to go and update my teaching logs in the office and take care of my attendance receipts. Mis Paul had already left but she told me that the principal had permitted me to attend the CXC conference on the 26^th of September in the next few days. Mrs Santana gave me a ride out to Curepe. We had a good laugh about my week.

Link(s):

• CSEC Music Teachers Workshop (Memo).**

 

Daryl Zion M. Ali

(7:58 am – 3:28 pm)

St. George’s College (Week #39) – Day #177

Date for Entry: (Thursday 14 September 2023)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Saturday 29 September 2023)

[T1, W:02 – D:09, (Td:3)*].

**Letter from Pastor Janelle

Dear Diary,

    This morning Miss Roberts said that she would be a tardy late. Miss Paul and I were in the music room alone. We had 1M for their first class this morning. This means that Miss Paul was going to take the Form 1 class while I went over to Form 3F. I took the music past papers.

    Before getting to the end of the corridor, I met two students from the same class walking about and sent them back. I realised that I accidentally took the Form 3 papers instead of the Form 2. It was a Form 2 class now moved up to Form 3. It felt confusing at first but I had to go back and find the correct heap of papers. I had no idea where to go when I was in Block K.

    After the greetings, I got someone to share the papers and have everyone sign attendance. They were confused because they knew that not everyone wanted to do music and some had to do Theatre Arts. I did not know about the class division so instead, I had the students go through parts of the paper until Miss Jones came. We spoke outside of the classroom first and she said she was shocked when she saw me in the classroom. We did not know where Miss Roberts was.

    Sometime after, she came into the classroom, sat at the back and went to scrolling through her phone. Unbelievable of her but I continued. Soon Miss Jones returned and I decided to sit for the rest of the double period. I could have been in class with Miss Paul but I decided to wait around in case anything and see what they were doing. The double period was over. Miss Jones apologised afterwards before I entered the music room.

    Miss Paul and I saw back in the ‘coffin box’ room and we shared what occurred in the last two periods, She told me that she was able to reach half of the work which was fine. Strange enough, this time around the first lesson for the Form 1s had to be divided into two sessions. Both of us along with Miss Jones remained there in the ‘coffin box’ room liming until the end of lunchtime. Again, they were having celebrations for George’s anniversary and didn’t tell us anything.

    The cake was all finished by the time we knew. We didn’t eat any. I found it strange that all the students were out in the yard still. Miss Jones came and told Miss Gittens and me that they were calling the school back for roll call at 2 p.m. I went back to the music rom and met the 1L students on their way. That single period went by quickly and soon did the second period too. The children didn’t have much time to draw the treble clefs but the note was fully received by the students.

    Later that evening, Miss Gittens and I waited for the last bus to go down to Port-of-Spain to Street Ministry. There was an extremely late start. We waited at the venue for everyone to begin. The topic this evening was the easy and direct call to Jesus (Romans 10:13 “For whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved.”).

    I saw my friend Jovan from Hillview walking down the pavement on the other side after the worship session was over. It was someone’s birthday that evening and they were singing and dancing on the road. Pastor Janelle signed the letter and handed it to me before Miss and I left.

    When I got back home, I couldn’t get much music done for the Indian Bhajan but I got one verse completed. I went to do a full lesson in Unit 4 of my Spanish lessons. That was a four-part session. Couldn’t chat afterwards. It was already 11:30 in the night and I had to run to bed.

Link(s):

• MTC Street Ministry (Thurs 14 Sep. 2023). **

 

Daryl Zion M. Ali

(7:42 am – 3:28 pm)

St. George’s College (Week #39) – Day #176

Date for Entry: (Wednesday 13 September 2023)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Saturday 29 September 2023)

[T1, W:02 – D:08, (Td:2)*].

**Good Character Cert. receipt

Dear Diary,

    I came to Valsayn with a new driver and with Sadie. We walked in from the road to the compound. She was playing a song and I was shocked when I saw the title of it “The Devil’s Calling.” She laughed and told me it was not what it looked like. I just took her word for it and walked onto the admin building after being greeted by “Miss Salma” at the gate.

    I did not eat anything at all. I fixed up everything and walked up to the music room. It was only the teacher’s room that was locked. Miss Paul came in during the middle of assembly time and we couldn’t get in. Instead, we used a blank copy of the exam paper with 2M. They took notes from everything in their notebooks instead.

    The departmental meeting was during the second period and I couldn’t get to go. Miss Roberts came in late into the period three. Miss Paul and I had 1L right after 2M. This class shared a symphony of descant recorders in the home classroom. I heard it playing on my way to get them in Block K. They were lined up by boys and girls but the lines are never maintained, lol.

    I had to go to my desk down to the admin office to get more attendance receipt forms. The welcome to the Form 1 students was brief. Miss Paul had already introduced herself and handed them over to me once I returned. We had two students who could not do music because of religious reasons. We were told by the boy and the girls that they were not allowed to play instruments that you need to blow wind into, as well as certain drumming instruments with particular kinds of skins. This was very new and strange to me.

    The students overall had a fun class. Not sure how boring it was for some others. I quickly ate my dhal and rice with jeera neck in the kitchen. “Tia” was telling me to take my time eating because I’m not always late and then say excuse. Miss Paul went to see the Principal but she was busy today in a meeting. I went to get 2F in Block K out of their classroom and to the music room. I didn’t like how this class had no days in between to prepare. It was today and tomorrow only on the timetable.

    Miss Paul recommended before I left for recess, to take note of topics that are difficult for the children and have a review before moving forward. Those topics from 2F were time signatures (Grade 1), Accidentals, Major scales, Tonic Triads, and Ties and Slurs requested by Sanjay. These topics took the full duration of the double period.

    I was so tired after that. It took me a very long time to pack my bag. When I got back in the office, I sat back down and took longer. I also was trying to make up my mind on which books needed to go home with me for the night. Felt very tired and slow by Isa after meeting Daddy in Curepe. We decided to go and try to pay for the Certificate of Good Character at the Police Station. I prayed about it going up. We parked outside the church and went down but the officer there told us to chance another station since they ran out of receipt books.

    Daddy did not want to go down to St. Joseph now. He said that the school traffic would be too heavy now. I told him that we should at least try since Friday I would be too tired to go there. We got in the car and went to make an effort. As soon as we turned the corner to pass Lesslie, my second prayer was about to be completed. When we got to the counter, the officer woman yelled us up and shouted at Dad. When I saw how she was behaving I told Dad to leave it and I will try to come back on Friday. Exiting the yard, I felt like I could have wanted to give up on the application.

    When we crossed the road, a gentleman came running out into the roadway and told us that they would do the receipt for us. I went in, handed the printed form to the same officer and she filled out the receipt. Her supervisor came out and did the inking that she did not want to do. She inked my fingers and did the printing on the form. They suggested that I had taken a picture of the same receipt before it was misplaced.

    I thanked Jesus again after leaving the compound. I fell asleep on the couch after Daddy left and missed bible study with Uncle Ram. I saw Aunty’s miscall and we were still able to have the study session.

 

Daryl Zion M. Ali

(7:38 am – 3:58 pm)

St. George’s College (Week #39) – Day #175

Date for Entry: (Tuesday 12 September 2023)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Saturday 23 September 2023)

[T1, W:02 – D:07, (Td:01)*].

Dear Diary,

    I got to Valsayn with a new Driver. As soon as we turned the corner from the maxi street, I smelled something like perfume from outside like watermelon. Two men came out of the maxi and walked in front. Wasn’t nice that they were smoking. As not sure where Miss Paul would have been. She came into the office to sign and I got my bags and we walked up the corridor together.

    The class was in a mess. I neatened it up and assembly took a long time. Miss Jones came and told me that she left the children in the classroom. She did not know if they were to come over to the music room so I went over to Block K to collect the children and brought them to the music room. They were lined up with the bags and we began class soon after. Miss Paul introduced herself and allowed me to take over. The first half of lesson 1 was completed.

    As soon as the class was over, we were free until after lunch. She said that she didn’t detect any problems when I was teaching. It was the first time that she got to see how I taught. I felt accomplished as I had scored a perfect hundred in some way.

    I thought that I would have gotten to do my Bible study in the office during the fifth and sixth periods but Amika asked me to type up the testimonial for myself by saying, “Here, Daryl. Type something nice for yourself.” As soon as I opened the letter that I allowed her to slip onto my flash drive, they tricked me with the same letter that Miss Gitten had written for me as a submission for the teacher’s number. I sat there and wrote something over from scratch and something that was the truth. I lost the picture that I took of it.

    During lunchtime, a man came to see his son. A lot of us in the office were fearful of him. I took up my stuff and ran off before he might have gotten worse. I hid my scissors in the cupboard before leaving the desk. Amika took a very long time to print the letter. It was printed first and then we realised that it had to get a header. It took much longer to get and printer over. I wished that I had asked for three. (I didn’t keep a copy for myself.)

    As lunchtime came to an end, Miss Paul met me as I was sitting on the couch in my staffroom and we walked back up to the music room. I didn’t mind the speed. It had been a while since I woke at that speed. Short-legged people need to do double and triple time to keep up. She told me about my impression of her after speaking with others.

    We had a nice joke afterwards and as we entered the music room, we decided to go back over the exam papers. She told me that she had to leave early. After school, more buses were needed as it was the first day back out for the lower school. The time for walking was even longer for the busses to get back from George’s through the evening traffic.

 

Daryl Zion M. Ali

(7:39 am – 3:28 pm)

St. George’s College (Week #38) – Day #174

Date for Entry: (Monday 11 September 2023)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Saturday 23 September 2023)

[T1, W:02 – D:06, (Td:6)*].

Dear Diary,

    I got to school late this morning. I shared my desk with “Mr Anthony” when he didn’t have anywhere to sit and work. I forgot his surname again. They were having issues with the staffroom in Block K.

    When I went to the art room on request, she told me that Miss Paul was here in school and escorted me over to the music room. I already had my bags with me straight from the office when I got there. It was nice to see Miss Jones there. Miss Paul was sitting at the head of the table. It was my first time getting to see what she looked like and to hear her speak.

    Miss Roberts was sitting typing busily from a notebook. It could have been teaching notes that she lost from someone else. There was some that she wanted me to send to her from the Form 1 students. I spent the rest of the day in the music room.

    Only when Miss Roberts left to teach, did I finally get a chance to speak with Miss Paul. She’s a very nice person. I shared my Form 1 notes and some of the projects that I did in the past and updated her on what occurred over the entire academic year. She seemed to be pleased with my work. I also shared the plans, checklists and evidence of using the curriculum to generate the academic year of work.

    At lunchtime, Miss Jones came back and the three of us had a nice lime. Miss Gittens left the compound during shuttle duty with Miss Mustapha. There was a new bus driver named Mr Sam. It took another four hours tonight trying to get the finale of Project Runway 20 completed from a YouTube recording. Twenty more minutes are remaining. I’m not sure how many hours it will take to complete that.

    Late into the night, I met a boy on Whisper who wanted to find out if his sister looked like a witch. It was very strange but interesting at the same time. I could see that his sister troubled him negatively and that he had a certain negative feeling about her. Not sure how we ended up consulting about an idea for writing a horror story but only time will tell if he is truly committed to writing a story with me.

Link(s):

• Picture of Email. [For Request by Email]

 

Daryl Zion M. Ali

(9:30 am – 3:53 pm)

Last Thursday: (7:36 am – 3:36 pm)

Last Friday: (9:28 am – 3:05 pm)

St. George’s College (Week #38) – Day #171

Date for Entry: (Wednesday 06 September 2023)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Saturday 23 September 2023)

[T1, W:01 – D:03, (Td:3)*].

** Macrame and Knitting

Dear Diary,

    I had a late morning. I saw “Sagaboy-Andy” while waiting in the maxi to go down to Valsayn. Didn’t know he was a loud laugher. I walked into Valsayn with Daysha in the maxi too. Didn’t know she was behind me in the back. As I entered the gates, I was greeted by the four guards from Monday.

    I signed and went to see Miss. No sign of Miss Roberts from the road or for the day. They had class so I handed in the labels that Mis wanted me to do and worked on Genesis 9 in the staffroom. After that long process of working, I decided to go and get lunch out of the way in the kitchen. They had an MMT meeting going on and were shouting all of a sudden. The noise stretched for the full building to hear.

    We had a short party for Miss Lousha in the art room until the end of lunchtime. She didn’t come yesterday for her birthday. Miss Mustapha, Dr Blandin-Maharaj, Mr Charles, Janice and I were there with one student. I left with the other teachers and went back to my bible reading. It was only after shuttle time  I got my bags and handed Miss Lousha the macrame and knitting gift that I got for her.

    The timetables were also printed this afternoon and I got Miss Paul’s one. There were plans to bring back students to school and they had no supervision. I  did not like the sight of my Days 2 and 3 at all. God, please give me the energy and mighty to go forth. I don't have help from many humans. 

 

Daryl Zion M. Ali

(10:12 am – 4:01 pm)

St. George’s College (Week #38) – Day #170

Date for Entry: (Tuesday 05 September 2023)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Saturday 23 September 2023)

[T1, W:01 – D:02, (Td:2)*].

**Gift from Mrs Noons-Charles

Dear Diary,

    I woke up and felt tired after that first day. I got to Valsayn with the same upper school students from yesterday. After passing the intersection to go up the hill, I thought of “Arthur” and soon he came riding over the hill gig back to Curepe.

    Mr Martain spoke with me at the singing. I met Mrs Santana and ‘Jan’. Miss Libert brought her little daughter with her today. I did the full writing on Genesis 9 in the first two periods that morning. Chapter 10 of Genesis was too much to do. I gave Miss Gittens the green shirt. She helped me understand blood sacrifice Vs. Jesus’ death on the cross.

    After recess, for periods one and five, I went to the staff meeting. We still did not have school for all of the lower schools. There was a prayer at the beginning. I signed before and sat with Miss and three other HODs. We had a review of the calendar of events for the first term of the year. The principal too was not there. We had a short review of the list of students taken for Lower Six. Secret conspiracies. Mrs. Jaikaran shared her story and clash of Rep. As the meeting came to an end, Mrs. Noons-Chales gave me a very beautiful book.

    There were only five students for art in the evening. The bust shuttle was faster to leave because of the small number of students. All of us in the staffroom after got sucka-bags. I tried a lime one and it was too bitter for me. I travelled up in a maxi that came to the gate to meet me this evening. Plenty of heavy rain came down in Curepe. Daddy and I had to wait for shelter by the terminal.

 

Daryl Zion M. Ali

(8:04 am – 3:42 pm)

St. George’s College (Week #38) – Day #169

Date for Entry: (Monday 04 September 2023)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Saturday 23 September 2023)

[T1, W:01 – D:01, (Td:1)*].

**Resumption form

Dear Diary,

    This morning I was the only OJT in the office. I came with one Georgian in the maxi. I got a nice greeting from ‘GG’, Miss Liba, and ‘Miss Bianca’. Scream and meet Miss Gittens in the office. That was the first time we met since the end of school last term. She got the mango that I had saved for her in the first for the past three weeks. Thank God Daddy didn’t eat them out and we spoke before signing. I had a different adjustment to the academic year.

    I got my desk cleared out and cleaned it out with tissue paper. It was properly cleaned this time and packed over, which felt satisfying. A Form 1 boy sat in the area waiting for someone to come and get him. There was no school for the lower school. The Forms 1 to 3 were closed because of no Air Conditioning. I spent the whole day reading from my bible and making notes for Genesis 7-9. Only 7-8 were written on.

    In the evening, before school opened, I was greeted by Mrs. Allen-Brown on my way back to school. My head was squeezing after no food for the day. Got a ride to Curepe after liming in the staffroom (Avid, ‘GG’, ‘Mel’, Miss Liba and Miss Lousha.) I slept on the couch when Daddy left home at 9 p.m. Vangy called and told me that Aunty Anmarie’s dog wasn’t doing so well. There was death expectation.

    I decided to play Bakery Chef and uninstalled it. Went on Whisper stories and “Collateral” was the first book’s name. Whisper chat was compromised. Slept at 2:30 a.m.

 

Daryl Zion M. Ali

(7:38 am – 3:48 pm)