Students gonna hate.. *Flips hair*

Assalamualaikum and hello to everyone :)

To my surprise, I was actually ready for this teaching practice for us to endeavor in our final year. Despite for not coming to the briefing earlier, I went to the office on a Sunday, a day before our teaching practical started but only to found out that my name was not listed/assigned to any schools. I was shocked but couldn’t do anything as there was nobody there except for the construction workers who seemed scary to me as I was alone. Anyways, I went to the office the next day where everybody else has gone to their respective schools and tried to figure out to which school I should be assigned to. Thanks to Dr Adele for her quick response and assistance to get me into the school – Catholic High School, Petaling Jaya.  I am indeed very grateful as the school is just nearby my place. Less than RM5 per way by taxi everyday and I am not complaining.

First reflection:

First day of teaching practice was okay as I had the chance to meet the Principal, my mentor and some teachers and was given the school tour. As I was assigned to two classes, I managed to observe both classes when the English teachers were teaching them. Not forgetting that I was informed earlier that Form 4S9 is very well-known as the naughtiest Form 4 class and Form 4P1 is the cooperative class. Nevertheless, both classes have the same English proficiency level so having the same lesson plans with the same materials or teaching aids and activities will still be acceptable (right?)

Anyway.. it has been 4 weeks now and I still think the students hate me. This is based on two strong reasons:

1. The mentor assigned for me is the Head of Discipline (a.k.a The Most Fierce Teacher). Whenever she comes for observation which so far she has done twice, the students will always be scolded, especially in Form 4S9. My mentor told me if ever the students cause any problems/troubles in the class, she asked me to just submit their names to her department. I was reluctant at first because I was trying to be as tolerant as possible but unfortunately I cant control the class so I tend to “threaten” them with that most of the times and I am not proud of that. *guilty as charged*

2. Since both classes I am taking over have covered everything in their syllabus before I even came to the school, I was advised to do revisions with the students and ofcourse giving them a lot of homework for their practice. Not just that, the teachers asked me to do a lot more on any writing-related exercise! So it was mostly essays (Tell me about it!). Nevertheless, I’ve tried to make my lessons as interesting and enjoyable as I could. For example, I’ve tried doing a debate which attracted the students – “Facebook ; good or bad?”. They loved the activity not until I told them that it was a practice for their argumentative essay as homework. It was a pity for the students as I just started to get to know them but the worst part is – I had to mark their works!

Well other than that, in general, the naughty class is very rebellious. There was once when I wanted to give them a short summary writing as an exercise in class, one of the boys answered back to me “No! I don’t want to do it!” and I just had to ask him why. He didn’t reply me so without embarrassing him, I brought him outside of the class to talk about it while others continue doing their works. He didn’t have any reasons and finally he agreed on doing it anyway. To compare, Form 4S9 did the summary within 30minutes but not all submitted where Form 4P1 finished and submitted everything within 15minutes of the lesson. Amazing right? Form 4P1 even offered me to join their clubs and play some sports with them in the afternoon.

Second reflection:

It is exam week now and there isn’t so much to say but it is a shocker that I have encountered a lot of problems already. The exam just started and its good news to us teachers – no lesson plans needed! However, only the second day of exam (25^th Sept) when I was invigilating my naughty class, so far I have taken 4 mobile phones and caught two students cheating during their Maths exam. I remember being a student in my prior years so I know when and the “techniques” of how the students cheat in their exams. But this does not mean that I have cheated in the past okay. I made those students cry and begged for my sympathy but I just couldn’t and shouldn’t tolerate with them because it is their EXAMINATION! So I just had to write their names down and send to the discipline room. Oh FYI, my school is really strict and they still practice the whipping as punishment. For phones, the school will confiscate the students’ phones and ask the parents of the students to be responsible for it and the phones will only be returned after 3 months. Just imagine that – 3 months without mobile phones! Am I mean or cruel?  Should I be guilty? I don’t think so. I did what I had to do.

Oh great, more reasons for the students to hate me now.

Talk to you all soon and Assalamualaikum.

Regards,

Khairiah