If you be nice to me, i'll be nice to you!

Hi peeps,

How are you? And your teaching practice? I personally hope that everyone is doing just fine and are enjoying their teaching practice. You know what, I really can't believe it. Time flies so fast and here we are, the third week of our teaching practice. Yet next week is the final exam for my school, Catholic High School.  Which this also means that my friends and i have to rush and finish all the syllabus before the final exam. OMG! It's a real challenging task for me and for them, i guess.

Honestly, many good and not so good things (i can't consider it as bad though) had happen through out this three weeks of teaching. However, i just bare it in mind that everything that happen is just a part and partial life of becoming a teacher.

The first week - Gabe, Muni, Ellina and i were assigned to teach in the afternoon session which starts from 1.00 pm to 6.30 pm everyday. However, we have to be in school before 12.30 pm. I'm okay with that but it's just that we are not given our own table where we can actually seat, put all of our stuffs and do all our works on it. Mdm. Wong, the senior assistant told us that they don't have enough place for us, trainees as most of the place have been occupied by the permanent teachers and we have to wait until the morning session teachers go back to get our place. Isn't that annoying? But, luckily she promised to find us a place before the week ends. Later on, she gave us our timetable where i have to teach 1 Form 1 class and 3 Form 2 classes. I am quite lucky as i do not have any class on Monday. So, i am a free bird every Monday. Since i do not have any class on the first day, i took the opportunity to walk around the school to get familiar with the places as well as to get to know some teachers. My mentor, Mdm. Ow Siew Har is a discipline teacher. She looks really strict but friendly at the same time. She told me on what i should cover up and even invited me to her class to see how she conducts her lesson. The next day, i entered my first class that is my form 2 Moral class. I feel as if i'm an alien from outer space as every single student is staring at me and whispering to each other. I introduced myself to them by saying that i am their temporary teacher. As soon as i finish talking, the class started to make a lot of noise and they don't even bother to hear what i am about to teach them. It's getting on my nerves as no one is listening to me. I yelled at them for the first time and to my surprise everyone straightaway shuts their mouth and look at me. However, i did not continue scolding them but i use a strategy that i learnt from the other teachers. I made a deal with them that is if they be nice to me, i'll be nice to them as well but if they are trying to be funny, i'll be even more funny than them. Everyone agrees to follow the rule and i'm happy with that. My next class is Form 1 English class. I entered the class and yes, the same thing happens where everyone is looking at me and the next moment, they started talking to each other, ignoring my presence. I didn't wait long to start my lesson as i have been assigned to teach them comprehension on the first day. I can see some of the students are not happy with me but i tried my best to tackle them. Without realizing it, the first week is almost over and yet we have Saturday school. My mentor observed me for the first time today as she wouldn't be around for quite some time. I got a positive comment as she told me that my voice is loud enough and to her surprise, i manage to control the whole class which she regards them as hyperactive and cheeky students.

The second week - This week i am quite busy, as i have to relief many classes. Even though so, we are still not given our own table. But, its okay. I still manage to keep myself calm. Besides, i have made many new friends and they are all so friendly, helpful and nice. Everything is going on just fine until i entered my form 1 English class again, that is 1A1. Today, i am teaching them on how to write an announcement. I divide them into groups and divide the task as well. I choose the group leader by myself to save time but to my surprise something unexpected happens. Mr. Loga, my moral lecturer once told me that "we should try to involve every student in our lesson and if we see someone that does not get along well with everyone, we as a teacher should take action to solve it". I choose a boy named 'Tan' to be the of the group leader but to my surprise the whole class refuse to be in his group and they even dare to utter the word "we hate him" and "we don't like him". I really don't get it but after some serious discussion and by playing rock, paper, scissors, at last i manage to put him in one of the group. All of them cooperate really well, except for one group which consists of 7 boys. Every time i walk pass by their group, they will straight away block my way and wouldn't let me pass or look at their work. I think that is fine because by hook or by crook they still have to pass up their work to me by the end of the class. As the class almost over, i collected all their works and head off to the staff room. I go through their works, some of them did really well but for that particular boys group, i was really shocked to see what they have done. They did not follow my instruction to create an announcement but they are creating something else but using all sort of dirty and disgusting words. They are just form 1 but they have such a dirty minded mind. I didn't wait long and i proceed to meet the discipline teacher, Mdm. Cheam. However, i feel like giving them a chance and who knows perhaps they can change. I bumped into one of the boys and told him that i am really pissed off with their group and straight walk away. His face immediately change. On Saturday, we have to attend LADAP that is Latihan Dalam Pengajaran at Taylor's College. It is a new experience for me and it is also the first course for me to attend as a teacher. Interesting! But, i still can't manage to solve Tan's problem.

The third week - Today, as soon as i drove my car into the school compound, i saw all 7 of the boys are waiting for me. I am really nervous and scared at the same time because i really don't know what they are up to. As i proceed to the staff room, they stopped me and each and every one of them starts apologizing and begged me not to report them to the discipline teacher. They are pulling my hands like babies and i decided to forgive them if only they cooperate with me and behave nicely in my class. They agreed and that's it, i forgave them. Yes, they behave properly but we can't expect them to totally transform themselves, they are still kids. But, i can feel that i am getting closer to them day by day. They started being open with me and we can joke around together. Same goes to the other classes. However, before i forget, during the assembly on Monday, one teacher told me something that i myself really can't believe it until now. They said that i am one of the fierce teacher in school. Really ah?? What a surprise?? But, i doesn't matter as long as the students respect me and we can get along together. That's all i need. One more thing, i have got my own table. Yes! At last! Unfortunately, not for Gabe, Muni and Ellina. They still have to share tables with other teachers. Ouwww!

As mentioned above, the main problem that i faced at school is the students themselves. As for the problematic students, i tried to find ways that can attract them to listen to me. Some of my classes really enjoy group work and some of them need us to pay more attention to them. I did many series of group work and also try to get closer to my students by sharing something in common such as our interest. One close example is in my 2B1 Moral class. There is a group of boys who always make noise, create trouble and didn't bring their books to school. At first, i was very angry at them but then i remember one of the teacher once told me "not every thing will turn out as you wish for". Then, i change my strategy. Every time i entered the class, i will ask them to answer my questions and give more attention to them. I stop scolding them as i realized that is no use as they will hate me even more. Sometimes, i will just walk to their desk and try to chat with them about anything. Thank God, in just 2 weeks, i have manage to grab their attention in class. One day, I entered the class and asked who didn't bring their books. They raised up their hands and said "Teacher, today we got bring our book lor. Good boy right? Extra mark for PEBEL okay?" I really can't stop smiling the whole day as i manage to solve that problem by just becoming more patience. Even some of the teachers told me that they had already give up with that group because of their rude behavior. I am really proud of myself! Yeeppiii. :)

I really hope all of us can keep being cool and calm in facing any kind of problems. Just be patience, everything will be alright. After all, they are still kids. Just don't let it get over board.

ADIOS! <3