Monday, April 18, 2016

Melting hard kids

Hey ya pepo!
Short update: I'm now teaching in a secondary school.
Which makes my teaching life waaaaaay more challenging.
Good thing: my voice is not as sore as compared to when I was teaching in primary.
Bad thing: students are waaaaaay harder to control.
What to do?

One of my classes gives me headache the most.
This particular class is a low proficiency class, where students are totally not interested in learning.
They come to school because they have to and they enter class because it's listed down in the curriculum.
What's more, they are more interested in their own stories and personal life to even care about a teacher mumbling in class.
I tried yelling, scolding, talking softly with each and everyone of them...
Well, the only hopes I have is when they grow up, they grow out of this phase.

Today I had a breakthrough.
It's nothing much, but I got them to listen to me, to my stories.
It was just a normal class in which they have to complete assignments using computers.
So there I was sitting at my desk, waiting for them to give me their marks...
When I noticed one of the noisier girls was looking kinda dejected.
Curious as I was, I asked her what's wrong, only to find out that she was given a suspension letter from the school.
After giving her some counselling and help, I then had a relaxing chat with her.
More to my surprise, when I was telling silly stories of my past, more students crowded towards my desk and was sitting on the floor listening to my stories.

Well...
Looks like a good story never fails.
And it looks like, the more you need to help them, show that you care for them...
The more they feel it, the more they understand you...
While this is only the beginning, it feels good to have them be "good students" for a day.
I am totally sure that there's always ups and downs for this particular class, but I am relishing it for a lil bit longer...
I hope that when I'm done teaching them as a sub, they could still remember the efforts I put in to help them be a better person in future.
That's what a teacher's job is right?
To Inspire. :)

Oh ya, another thing I've learnt is, 
if you're eating choc doughnuts, 
remember to bring some fork or sth
elsewise you'll end up with poopy hands...
HAHAHA


Love
JCG