Wanted to write this post two weeks ago, but was held back by other more important matters. My relief teaching assignment has been extended once more for another 2 weeks. Yes, i can too imagine all the parents jumping when their child report this great news to them. 2 more weeks of income for me!
Last week was pretty easy. It was exam week so i didn't have to teach, the only thing i needed to do was to invigilate. Unlike secondary school exams, the students in primary schools continue with their lessons after their test, but luckily all my periods had been used for the tests. Walking around and collecting test paper was pretty much all i did for that 3 days.
This week however was different. It was a mad rush to finish marking all their test papers but since i was just a relief teacher, i didn't have to contribute. So the papers of my class were offloaded to the other teachers. That made it a little complicated. Teachers being teachers naturally mark their own class's papers first. That said, my class could only get back their test papers later than the other classes. Because of that, i had a shorter amount of time to go through the papers with the kids. As i was not part of the marking team, i didn't know what they had discussed or should i say why they rejected some of the answers. In fact i didn't even look through the papers until the day i was going through with them. I had to do the questions on the spot and at the same time, explain the answers to 40 kids. Now be reminded that these kids are not from the average classes. They are from the top 2 classes in primary 5. And what they best known for? Yes fighting and arguing for marks, they would go all the way out for that half mark. Its all coming back. Sorry teachers, now i know how it feels. To be fair, many of the students did have answers which were worth taking a second look. My job was to reject as many as i can but of course with justification and reasons, but as i was not part of the marking team, i wasn't sure why their answers had been rejected. All i could promise was that i'll check. I did! When i brought back those questions to the marking team and clarified with them, they couldn't even convince me. Not convinced myself, how was i to reject these kids? Eventually they gave up and handed my questions to the HOD who eventually rejected all alternatives. She did the explanation herself. When the "real" teacher was there, the kids sucked it all up. The fighting spirit they used against me vanished somehow. Sigh..
Just this tuesday, as i was going through the papers with one of the classes, the principal walked in, apparently due to the noise generated. There bound to be some noises when test papers are returned! It was still tolerable but she walked in nevertheless. Walked a few rounds around the class asking the students really lame questions, and demanded them to respond back with a " yes miss T". No names as usual. As she was walking around, she kept mumbling something about seeing how the students learn, i seriously doubt that. I bet she was just checking up on me. Although surprised by the sudden guest appearance, i continued anyway as though she wasn't there. It did feel strange having a principal walking around the class. Her presence however did help make the class much quieter. As suddenly as she appeared, she disappeared through the back door of the classroom, leaving the class quiet for the next 5 minutes.
Now to the event of the week, the lost of scripts. On wednesday, 2 pupils came to me to have their marks amended as there were some tabulation errors. As i was not part of the marking team, i couldn't change it myself. Had to bring it down to the marker to have the marks amended. Simple enough, sacrificed my break time looking for the marker during my break, and spent the rest discussing with the markers on which answers to reject or rather reasons for rejecting the alternatives. Such had been the way i spent my breaks for the past few weeks. Anyway back to the story of lost scripts. As i spent quite a bit of time discussing, i was late to fetch my class back to their classroom after recess. Went down to the canteen only to find a few prefects finishing up their meals. 2 of them, classmates of the students with amended marks. One of them was supposedly the first in class, the other was also seemingly responsible. So with the scripts in my hand, i thought i could rely on these 2 to return the scripts to their classmates as i would not be going back to their class anymore. How wrong i was. 10 mins later while i was going through the paper with another class, the prefect whom i passed the scripts to came in with a very anxious look telling me that the scripts were gone. i went "WHAT!" While it was not due to my direct negligence, i knew the blame will fall back on me. Then she went on saying that she went to the toilet leaving the papers on the table thinking that the other prefect would look after it, but guess what? The other prefect simply walked off to return the plates. When they both came back, the test papers were no longer there. How could they do that to me!!! Spent the next break frantically running around the school looking for clues, was so close to even start digging the bins, (i was standing infront of the open bin, had already borrowed a pair of tongs from the cleaning lady) when this school attendent walked past. He asked what i was searching for and i told him papers. Then he replied saying he saw the papers on the table earlier, took it and passed to 2 malay girls who happened to walk pass. That was the last clue i had of the missing scripts. As the time they were picked up was right between 2 recesses, the 2 malay girls could be from any level. Announcing the lost throughout the school was not an option either.
Took a break on Thursday. The school had a "learn from home" program for primary 5 and 6 students, in preparation for any possible outbreak of an epidemic whereby schools are closed for a long time.
By friday, still no news of the missing scripts. By then, news had already spread to the principal and vice principal. Met the principal today who looked at me disappointedly and shook her head!! Can't believe it!! For so much effort i put in to help these kids, the many hours i volunteer and that is what i get in return? Frankly speaking, i am disappointed by the reaction of the principal. Oh well, the march holidays are here, so will have a week of break. In anycase, this post is likely going to be the newest post for a long long time...
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Lesson 5: You get back what you give! No kidding
Been a while since i last updated this blog. Realised that it wasn't so much of being busy, but more of laziness. Writing this would probably take me an hour, which i could better spend on napping. Always craving for more sleep recently, for the past week, i have been sleeping at 10pm. Which for me is very early. Normally wouldn't head to bed before 12am. Anyway, enough about my sleeping habits. Back to relief teaching.
Just like humans, my workload has evolved into something more complicated. For the past 2 weeks, i have been relieving the same teacher who kept extending her MC. Well without her, i wouldn't have any assignment. So in some way i am thankful. At the same time however, i am getting pretty worried about the schoolwork of the children. While i try my very best to ensure that they do not just waste their time away, there is only this much i can do for them. I cannot be a substitute of their teacher, WHICH the school is trying to make me, while paying me at half the rate.
One fine day last week, while i was reading my german magazine in the staffroom during a break, a colleague came over to me and asked how was the marking. Stunned, i could only reply with a blank look on my face "What marking?" So she continued as if it was nothing surprising," Oh the principal asked about you just now and how is it going for the school work. Have you been marking their work?" So there it is, my workload has evolved. All those worksheets and testpapers which i have happily distributed are coming back to haunt me. The feeling of giving out worksheets, knowing that you never need to see them again is distinctly different from those , knowing that you will volunteer to mark them. Frankly speaking, they didn't force me. But seeing the rising pile of worksheets on her table, i felt the responsibility to do something. Furthermore, their exams are coming, i couldn't bear to see these children falling back since they are from the best classes. Oh have i already mentioned that?
Since then, my 5.5 hours mutated into an 8 hours assignment. Overtime pay you say? I wish. Purely volunteer, they say. Put it simply, my 13 dollars per hour job became a 9 dollars an hour job. =( What makes it worse is that it is eating into my study time. So thats one reason which i haven't been updating my blog. Anyway, took me 3 days of 3 hours to finish marking the composition of one class. Instead of grading them, i wrote down better phrases and corrected their grammar and included some pointers on how to improve their composition. Isn't that better?! Sometimes i really wondered what keeps me working so hard without added benefits.
Oh yes, grammar worksheets. Stumped by primary 5 grammar questions. 18 exercises, 10 questions in each exercise, 2 classes of 40 students each. Simple math, 14400 questions. Of course i wasn't so stupid to mark every single one. It would take me a month. So i just flashed the answer on the board, asked the kids to mark themselves. Took no more than half an hour. =) To flash the answer key, i need an answer key. Stupidly, the creator didn't come up with an ans key, so i had to come up with mine. Came across this particular question as i was doing the paper. Given 2 options, both seemed grammatically right, couldn't decide and justify. That spells trouble when you can't explain a question to 40 brainy kids. Like mentioned previously, they will pounce on every weakness you show, and leave you feeling dumb at the end of the day. So I consulted a couple of friends who clearly speak better English than me. Unfortunately they didn't convince me of any answer. So i thought i might as well as the english teachers, thinking that they would know better. And guess what! Out of 5 teachers i asked, 2 gave me one option, the other 3 another. Both with their own reasoning. To be fair, the 2 camps were able to justify using the nitty gritty grammar rules. In the end, we all agreed that the best answer wasn't among the options. So its the question setter's fault.
Walked into a class of cheers today. Its a bad thing. I am now the mascot for "End of oppression". Everytime i am in their class, it provides an opportunity for the kids to release all their toilet pleas, changing of place requests, the chatterings oppressed by the other teachers. Somehow i can't bring myself to shout angrily at the children. You need to sound fierce as mentioned in my earlier post, something which i found difficult. In anycase, i think the days are going to be harder. Even the best classes are starting to rebel.
Just like humans, my workload has evolved into something more complicated. For the past 2 weeks, i have been relieving the same teacher who kept extending her MC. Well without her, i wouldn't have any assignment. So in some way i am thankful. At the same time however, i am getting pretty worried about the schoolwork of the children. While i try my very best to ensure that they do not just waste their time away, there is only this much i can do for them. I cannot be a substitute of their teacher, WHICH the school is trying to make me, while paying me at half the rate.
One fine day last week, while i was reading my german magazine in the staffroom during a break, a colleague came over to me and asked how was the marking. Stunned, i could only reply with a blank look on my face "What marking?" So she continued as if it was nothing surprising," Oh the principal asked about you just now and how is it going for the school work. Have you been marking their work?" So there it is, my workload has evolved. All those worksheets and testpapers which i have happily distributed are coming back to haunt me. The feeling of giving out worksheets, knowing that you never need to see them again is distinctly different from those , knowing that you will volunteer to mark them. Frankly speaking, they didn't force me. But seeing the rising pile of worksheets on her table, i felt the responsibility to do something. Furthermore, their exams are coming, i couldn't bear to see these children falling back since they are from the best classes. Oh have i already mentioned that?
Since then, my 5.5 hours mutated into an 8 hours assignment. Overtime pay you say? I wish. Purely volunteer, they say. Put it simply, my 13 dollars per hour job became a 9 dollars an hour job. =( What makes it worse is that it is eating into my study time. So thats one reason which i haven't been updating my blog. Anyway, took me 3 days of 3 hours to finish marking the composition of one class. Instead of grading them, i wrote down better phrases and corrected their grammar and included some pointers on how to improve their composition. Isn't that better?! Sometimes i really wondered what keeps me working so hard without added benefits.
Oh yes, grammar worksheets. Stumped by primary 5 grammar questions. 18 exercises, 10 questions in each exercise, 2 classes of 40 students each. Simple math, 14400 questions. Of course i wasn't so stupid to mark every single one. It would take me a month. So i just flashed the answer on the board, asked the kids to mark themselves. Took no more than half an hour. =) To flash the answer key, i need an answer key. Stupidly, the creator didn't come up with an ans key, so i had to come up with mine. Came across this particular question as i was doing the paper. Given 2 options, both seemed grammatically right, couldn't decide and justify. That spells trouble when you can't explain a question to 40 brainy kids. Like mentioned previously, they will pounce on every weakness you show, and leave you feeling dumb at the end of the day. So I consulted a couple of friends who clearly speak better English than me. Unfortunately they didn't convince me of any answer. So i thought i might as well as the english teachers, thinking that they would know better. And guess what! Out of 5 teachers i asked, 2 gave me one option, the other 3 another. Both with their own reasoning. To be fair, the 2 camps were able to justify using the nitty gritty grammar rules. In the end, we all agreed that the best answer wasn't among the options. So its the question setter's fault.
Walked into a class of cheers today. Its a bad thing. I am now the mascot for "End of oppression". Everytime i am in their class, it provides an opportunity for the kids to release all their toilet pleas, changing of place requests, the chatterings oppressed by the other teachers. Somehow i can't bring myself to shout angrily at the children. You need to sound fierce as mentioned in my earlier post, something which i found difficult. In anycase, i think the days are going to be harder. Even the best classes are starting to rebel.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Lesson 4: The experienced gets the worst
Awaken by the buzzing vibration from my handphone once again in the morning. Yet another teacher to cover today. It turned out to be the chinese HOD who hasn't been around for almost a week. Somehow i am beginning to dread the phone calls in the morning, far from looking forward to going to the school last year. No idea what changed me over the past 2 months, but today's experience certainly didn't help.
Taking charge of chinese lessons today, well not really, basically relieving them during their chinese lesson. When i was finally handed my schedule, an overwhelming feeling of dread just swept through me. Of the 4 classes that i was going to babysit, 2 belonged to the worst classes i had to relieve, while another 1 was without a doubt a problem class. How do i know? Well a teacher simply told me to keep them disciplined, no lessons required. Its called a foundation class, the new generation of EM3. While i have nothing against them personally, this class proved to live up to their reputation, well at least 2 of the students in the class. More about that later.
So first class of the day, yes its the one which i mentioned in my previous post, the one with the problematic girl and problematic boy. If that doesn't ring a bell still, its the one which i had to babysit for a continuous 3 hours. Turned out pretty okay today since it was just an hour. Attempted to communicate with the kids in chinese this time, even helped them out with their chinese homework. Just before the class ended as i was helping another girl with the chinese homework, this boy walked to me and said in a very serious tone, " Teacher i know you are not going to believe me but this is true..." I looked at him wondering what was going to come out next from his mouth, like ghosts? or Vampires? Then he continued " I saw a UFO yesterday flying above my block." I almost burst out in laughter, but held back as i knew it would have unthinkable consequences. Didn't want to have a crying student right before i leave the class, i continued to listen. The girl whom i was helping couldn't help giggling. Then he started describing what the UFO looked like, even drew a picture explaining that there were blue and red lights coming out. So i asked him if what he saw was a police car. He gave me an incredulous look before saying, "It was on top of my block..."
Then it was the lesson with the foundation class. With a class size of only 20, i thought it shouldn't be too hard. I was soo wrong. As it was a Monday and the teacher hasn't been around for the past week, they had no homework no nothing. Seated right in front of the teacher's table in the middle of the class is this boy, or should i say gangster. Halfway through the class, he burst out in anger and started shouting vulgarities at this girl seated about 3 tables away. Grabbing his arm in time, i managed to stop him from going over to attack her. But only for that 30 seconds. The moment i loosened my grip, he stormed over to her table and gave the table a big kick. The impact sent the pencil case and one book on her table flying. Luckily the girl was not injured. Dragged him away from her table by the arm and pushed him back into his chair. Never done that before. It was shocking. Bear in mind that all these happened right before my nose. Not knowing how to handle this situation, i gave him a good scolding. Don't think that helped. Apparently this girl annoys every other person in the class and the class would cheer whenever one of them says something nasty about her. So i warned those around that if i hear anything nasty coming out from them, i would make them stay back with me for 5 hours after school. So the gangster boy took out a piece of paper and started scribbling something about the girl. I warned him to stop immediately and he argued that he wasn't saying anything. I didn't bother to argue with him told him firmly again to stop. Then he burst out in tears mumbling something about the girl being cocky before making some threats, saying that she better watch out after school. Of course with unthinkable amount of vulgarities in between. Think he mumbled something about me as well, didn't care. Had to do what i had to do. He was really agitated. His classmates simply didn't not help in the situation by adding more fuel to the explosion. But after that outburst, he did calm down a little so i just left him alone. Had to patrol around the class during the entire 1 hour. The hour never felt longer.
Then it was the third class that never happened, as the assembly program spilled over to the entire 1 hour. That was suppose to be the better class, apparently not. Luckily their teacher came and took over before i needed to bring them back to class. As i was there, 2 boys were wrestling each other, grabbing each other by the neck before their teacher pulled them apart.
Finally the last class of the day. The one which i took last week. According to them, their teacher had probably called in sick due to the lost of voice, which was partly contributed by them. Again no homework no nothing since their teacher hasn't been around for the past week. Well this class is not too bad, except that its noisy. 2 baddies in this class, one girl who is very rude, by rude i mean really rude and doesn't know her place and this other boy who cannot sit still. Hes okay today after i made him stay back to clean the classroom after school last week. Initially scared her by saying that i would make her stay back for 2 hours, and her response? "I am not going to stay back, i don't care. After class i will go home." I told her straight in her face to try. After lesson, i told her to sweep up the mess her class left behind and she took the broom very unwillingly and simply walked around swinging it, grumbling and complaining as she walked around saying that i am ridiculous and it isn't fair and so on. Didn't care, told her that she would not leave until the class is clean. She just stood there. Not long came her friend who was waiting for her and helped her out with the punishment. It was then she started moving again. Just as i thought its the end of the day, came 2 boys into the classroom, one of them with scratches on his face. The friend accompanying him reported that he was beaten by another classmate after i have dismissed them. Brought them to the office immediately. Told the boy to wash up his face first before it gets infected. They went and didn't come back.
If there is one thing i learnt today, it would be that the HOD or whichever experienced teacher usually gets the worst classes. If they are going to call me tomorrow, i will make it clear that i am not willing to cover the HOD, better leave it to some experienced teacher who can better handle these little terrors.
Taking charge of chinese lessons today, well not really, basically relieving them during their chinese lesson. When i was finally handed my schedule, an overwhelming feeling of dread just swept through me. Of the 4 classes that i was going to babysit, 2 belonged to the worst classes i had to relieve, while another 1 was without a doubt a problem class. How do i know? Well a teacher simply told me to keep them disciplined, no lessons required. Its called a foundation class, the new generation of EM3. While i have nothing against them personally, this class proved to live up to their reputation, well at least 2 of the students in the class. More about that later.
So first class of the day, yes its the one which i mentioned in my previous post, the one with the problematic girl and problematic boy. If that doesn't ring a bell still, its the one which i had to babysit for a continuous 3 hours. Turned out pretty okay today since it was just an hour. Attempted to communicate with the kids in chinese this time, even helped them out with their chinese homework. Just before the class ended as i was helping another girl with the chinese homework, this boy walked to me and said in a very serious tone, " Teacher i know you are not going to believe me but this is true..." I looked at him wondering what was going to come out next from his mouth, like ghosts? or Vampires? Then he continued " I saw a UFO yesterday flying above my block." I almost burst out in laughter, but held back as i knew it would have unthinkable consequences. Didn't want to have a crying student right before i leave the class, i continued to listen. The girl whom i was helping couldn't help giggling. Then he started describing what the UFO looked like, even drew a picture explaining that there were blue and red lights coming out. So i asked him if what he saw was a police car. He gave me an incredulous look before saying, "It was on top of my block..."
Then it was the lesson with the foundation class. With a class size of only 20, i thought it shouldn't be too hard. I was soo wrong. As it was a Monday and the teacher hasn't been around for the past week, they had no homework no nothing. Seated right in front of the teacher's table in the middle of the class is this boy, or should i say gangster. Halfway through the class, he burst out in anger and started shouting vulgarities at this girl seated about 3 tables away. Grabbing his arm in time, i managed to stop him from going over to attack her. But only for that 30 seconds. The moment i loosened my grip, he stormed over to her table and gave the table a big kick. The impact sent the pencil case and one book on her table flying. Luckily the girl was not injured. Dragged him away from her table by the arm and pushed him back into his chair. Never done that before. It was shocking. Bear in mind that all these happened right before my nose. Not knowing how to handle this situation, i gave him a good scolding. Don't think that helped. Apparently this girl annoys every other person in the class and the class would cheer whenever one of them says something nasty about her. So i warned those around that if i hear anything nasty coming out from them, i would make them stay back with me for 5 hours after school. So the gangster boy took out a piece of paper and started scribbling something about the girl. I warned him to stop immediately and he argued that he wasn't saying anything. I didn't bother to argue with him told him firmly again to stop. Then he burst out in tears mumbling something about the girl being cocky before making some threats, saying that she better watch out after school. Of course with unthinkable amount of vulgarities in between. Think he mumbled something about me as well, didn't care. Had to do what i had to do. He was really agitated. His classmates simply didn't not help in the situation by adding more fuel to the explosion. But after that outburst, he did calm down a little so i just left him alone. Had to patrol around the class during the entire 1 hour. The hour never felt longer.
Then it was the third class that never happened, as the assembly program spilled over to the entire 1 hour. That was suppose to be the better class, apparently not. Luckily their teacher came and took over before i needed to bring them back to class. As i was there, 2 boys were wrestling each other, grabbing each other by the neck before their teacher pulled them apart.
Finally the last class of the day. The one which i took last week. According to them, their teacher had probably called in sick due to the lost of voice, which was partly contributed by them. Again no homework no nothing since their teacher hasn't been around for the past week. Well this class is not too bad, except that its noisy. 2 baddies in this class, one girl who is very rude, by rude i mean really rude and doesn't know her place and this other boy who cannot sit still. Hes okay today after i made him stay back to clean the classroom after school last week. Initially scared her by saying that i would make her stay back for 2 hours, and her response? "I am not going to stay back, i don't care. After class i will go home." I told her straight in her face to try. After lesson, i told her to sweep up the mess her class left behind and she took the broom very unwillingly and simply walked around swinging it, grumbling and complaining as she walked around saying that i am ridiculous and it isn't fair and so on. Didn't care, told her that she would not leave until the class is clean. She just stood there. Not long came her friend who was waiting for her and helped her out with the punishment. It was then she started moving again. Just as i thought its the end of the day, came 2 boys into the classroom, one of them with scratches on his face. The friend accompanying him reported that he was beaten by another classmate after i have dismissed them. Brought them to the office immediately. Told the boy to wash up his face first before it gets infected. They went and didn't come back.
If there is one thing i learnt today, it would be that the HOD or whichever experienced teacher usually gets the worst classes. If they are going to call me tomorrow, i will make it clear that i am not willing to cover the HOD, better leave it to some experienced teacher who can better handle these little terrors.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Lesson 3: Nothing keeps children under control better than worksheets
Been relieving for a continuous 5 days, and my throat has taken a toll. Well it wasn't that bad for the past 4 days when i had been relieving upper primary students but the class today killed my throat. Took charge of a primary 3 class today, one of the more problematic class. The set of challenges posted by the lower primary are very much different from the ones from upper primary. Having to babysit them for a stretch of 3 hours continuously today, i knew i was in for some shouting and screaming when i received the schedule today. Once again, the teacher i was covering didn't leave any instructions and i had to search and invent my own program for the children. To keep 30 highly active and feisty kids under control requires alot of patience and skill and most importantly, work. Did the usual round of walking around the staff room asking the neighbouring class teachers if they have any work for the class. Sadly all of them didn't. Somehow got the impression that the teacher i was covering was a bitch since none of the other teachers bothered to offer much help, and told me not to dig from the box of worksheets on her table. Didn't care, took a set of maths worksheet from the box. Anyway, i also found a worksheet with the 12 zodiac animals for them to colour, that alone took away almost 45 mins off the 3 hours.
Then came the first problem of the day, sharing of colour pencils. It seems that the children these days are quite protective of their possessions. Initially most didn't want to share their colour pencils with their classmates, but after some persuasion, they relented with much disgruntlement. Soon an argument in one of the groups ensued. A problematic girl arguing with a group of problematic boys, boys call her names and said that her table is full of germs. Scolded the group of boys who didn't seem to care much. Sure enough she started to weep and i had to transfer her to the other corner of the class. Not long later, the localised problem became widespread. Boys continue to make lots of noise and the problematic girl created a stirr in the new corner. Sigh. A small check with the other students revealed that she was indeed problematic and the sitting arrangement was probably like this to contain the naughty students. No idea, just another presumption on my part.
Oh yes, there is another problematic student. Lets just call him J. Isolated from the rest of the class with his table next to the teacher's table, hes hardly at his table. Didn't notice it till one of the students complained about him standing behind her. According to his classmates, the form teacher couldn't control him as well, so she just let him walk around the class because he is "special". No one in the class could communicate with him. Any efforts to do so will only be returned with a blank stare or ignorance. Well he wasn't the noisy kind of problem, doesn't create much problem for the class as he kept himself busy with fiddling the objects placed around the class. Hasn't someone inform his parents about this problem? Why waste his time in a normal primary school when he clearly isn't normal?
It was english lesson after their art lesson, so i thought i might as well do something creative with these children. So told them to cut out the animals that they just coloured, and as a group project, come up with a story about the animals. Went terribly. While a couple of groups managed to work together to come up with something, most of them took the opportunity to go wild. The problematic boys group started arguing again, claiming that the other group members did not contribute and the complains go around the group. Like a vicious cycle, pointing at each other, nothing was accomplished after 20 mins and moods soured. Only after i started the story for them did they slowly tread along. Somehow at the other corner of the class, another storm was brewing. Problematic girl claimed that the 2 other girls didn't allow her to participate in the group work. So instead she took a broom and dustpan and walked out of the class without my permission. It was only when one of the students told me that she walked out again without the teacher's permission (apparently this has happened before). Found her shortly and reprimanded her. More students took advantage of this chaotic moment to make the situation worse. One after another they come to me complaining of their trivial argument with each other and doing the toilet plea. It was only after the threat of calling their parents by trying to force the number out of the kids did i manage to restore some order back in the class. All the shouting didn't help. About 1 and a quarter hour later, the last group finally wrote the last sentence of their story. After which i attempted to make these children present their story to the class. Once again it worked out terribly. Stories were written with so many grammatical errors without much content and flow that sometimes it was impossible to understand what they were talking about. Not helping was that they were too soft to get the attention of all their classmates. Not wanting to waste anymore time, i took over as the narrator, editing the grammar and story real time as i read. Still made no sense. Oh well.
Totally exhausted after the little exercise, i took out the trump card, math worksheets. It was only then peace was finally returned to this class. Even J stopped walking around. When i handed him the worksheets, he told me that he had no mood to do the worksheets. I told him that he was not special and he has to do it whether he likes it or not. He grumbled something which i didn't quite understand and didn't bother to pursue for i did not want the rest of the class to go out of hand again. He simply looked disgrunted and picked up his pencil. Left him alone after that. Gave them sometime to complete the questions before going through the first 2 questions with them. Of course they didn't finish, thus i was only able to discuss the first 2 questions. Spent the last 15 mins talking some sense into these children, not sure if they understood me, but they were surprisingly quiet.
Lesson learnt: Do not attempt to give project work to any children and expect them to come up with something if you do not have the necessary experience unless you want to end up with a sore throat. And this is especially true for classes with problematic kids. Doing so will only give them an opportunity to bust your throat and patience. Worksheets are still the best weapon for relief teachers. So glad that the week is over.
Then came the first problem of the day, sharing of colour pencils. It seems that the children these days are quite protective of their possessions. Initially most didn't want to share their colour pencils with their classmates, but after some persuasion, they relented with much disgruntlement. Soon an argument in one of the groups ensued. A problematic girl arguing with a group of problematic boys, boys call her names and said that her table is full of germs. Scolded the group of boys who didn't seem to care much. Sure enough she started to weep and i had to transfer her to the other corner of the class. Not long later, the localised problem became widespread. Boys continue to make lots of noise and the problematic girl created a stirr in the new corner. Sigh. A small check with the other students revealed that she was indeed problematic and the sitting arrangement was probably like this to contain the naughty students. No idea, just another presumption on my part.
Oh yes, there is another problematic student. Lets just call him J. Isolated from the rest of the class with his table next to the teacher's table, hes hardly at his table. Didn't notice it till one of the students complained about him standing behind her. According to his classmates, the form teacher couldn't control him as well, so she just let him walk around the class because he is "special". No one in the class could communicate with him. Any efforts to do so will only be returned with a blank stare or ignorance. Well he wasn't the noisy kind of problem, doesn't create much problem for the class as he kept himself busy with fiddling the objects placed around the class. Hasn't someone inform his parents about this problem? Why waste his time in a normal primary school when he clearly isn't normal?
It was english lesson after their art lesson, so i thought i might as well do something creative with these children. So told them to cut out the animals that they just coloured, and as a group project, come up with a story about the animals. Went terribly. While a couple of groups managed to work together to come up with something, most of them took the opportunity to go wild. The problematic boys group started arguing again, claiming that the other group members did not contribute and the complains go around the group. Like a vicious cycle, pointing at each other, nothing was accomplished after 20 mins and moods soured. Only after i started the story for them did they slowly tread along. Somehow at the other corner of the class, another storm was brewing. Problematic girl claimed that the 2 other girls didn't allow her to participate in the group work. So instead she took a broom and dustpan and walked out of the class without my permission. It was only when one of the students told me that she walked out again without the teacher's permission (apparently this has happened before). Found her shortly and reprimanded her. More students took advantage of this chaotic moment to make the situation worse. One after another they come to me complaining of their trivial argument with each other and doing the toilet plea. It was only after the threat of calling their parents by trying to force the number out of the kids did i manage to restore some order back in the class. All the shouting didn't help. About 1 and a quarter hour later, the last group finally wrote the last sentence of their story. After which i attempted to make these children present their story to the class. Once again it worked out terribly. Stories were written with so many grammatical errors without much content and flow that sometimes it was impossible to understand what they were talking about. Not helping was that they were too soft to get the attention of all their classmates. Not wanting to waste anymore time, i took over as the narrator, editing the grammar and story real time as i read. Still made no sense. Oh well.
Totally exhausted after the little exercise, i took out the trump card, math worksheets. It was only then peace was finally returned to this class. Even J stopped walking around. When i handed him the worksheets, he told me that he had no mood to do the worksheets. I told him that he was not special and he has to do it whether he likes it or not. He grumbled something which i didn't quite understand and didn't bother to pursue for i did not want the rest of the class to go out of hand again. He simply looked disgrunted and picked up his pencil. Left him alone after that. Gave them sometime to complete the questions before going through the first 2 questions with them. Of course they didn't finish, thus i was only able to discuss the first 2 questions. Spent the last 15 mins talking some sense into these children, not sure if they understood me, but they were surprisingly quiet.
Lesson learnt: Do not attempt to give project work to any children and expect them to come up with something if you do not have the necessary experience unless you want to end up with a sore throat. And this is especially true for classes with problematic kids. Doing so will only give them an opportunity to bust your throat and patience. Worksheets are still the best weapon for relief teachers. So glad that the week is over.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Lesson 2: Never walk into the class smiling
Sounds very pessimistic of me, but hey, i am telling from the bottom of my heart. Not saying that you have to look angry when you enter the class, but you should not smile. Relief teachers usually represent free period and time to go wild for most children. Not saying that it is true for all students, since i have experienced quite a variety of reactions when walked into the class. One thing for sure though, never walk into one smiling unless you are already familiar with the class or if you already have a reputation for being no nonsense. But thats hardly the case for any relief teachers. I would like to liken walking into the class with a smile to walking into the tiger's cage holding out a piece of fat juicy meat. These children will not hesitate to pounce on your weakness. How is smiling a weakness you ask. Smiling is akin to writing on your face : I am lenient so please go ahead and step a little over the line and i would not do anything to you.
As such, i believe very much that how your period will proceed, depends very much on the face you carry into the classroom. At times the period can last over 2 hours, so you really do not want 40 kids to keep bugging you with their nonsense. The situation is worsen when the the teacher who was absent did not assign any work to the children. Controlling 40 restless children without work is terrifying. More about that later, but now back to setting the first impression. The moment i step into the class, I wage a psychological war against these potentially out of control students. (Not all the times as there are good classes which do not require this fear treatment). How do i do so? Not smiling of course. This is how it works, you walk in, you write you name, you greet the children. They will greet you back and then you tell them to sit, which they will thank you again. So before i allow them to sit, i state my rules clearly. Rule no 1: No talking or shouting when i speak. Rule no 2: No walking around without my permission. Rule no 3: No throwing of any objects around the class. As you can see these are the main 3 problems every class will have. And the punishment for doing anyone of those? Sit on the dustbin until the next culprit is caught. I will make them repeat the rules once before allowing them to sit. Oh yes, changing of place is a very common request which i tend to forbid unless they have projects. But since it falls in the "walk around and talking" category, its not hard to convince them its not allowed. You cannot imagine how effective this threat works on all children, whether good or bad. Main idea is not really to make them sit on the bin, but to send a clear message to them: even though i am a relief teacher, you better not play around with me or there will be consequences. However believe it or not, there will still be some who nevertheless flout the rules but they will first be given warnings and constant reminders of the dustbin throne. Repeated offenders will then be made to sit on the bin. Oh yes, they are to pay for the bin if they break it. Hitting it where it hurt most, the Singaporean way. Till next time..
As such, i believe very much that how your period will proceed, depends very much on the face you carry into the classroom. At times the period can last over 2 hours, so you really do not want 40 kids to keep bugging you with their nonsense. The situation is worsen when the the teacher who was absent did not assign any work to the children. Controlling 40 restless children without work is terrifying. More about that later, but now back to setting the first impression. The moment i step into the class, I wage a psychological war against these potentially out of control students. (Not all the times as there are good classes which do not require this fear treatment). How do i do so? Not smiling of course. This is how it works, you walk in, you write you name, you greet the children. They will greet you back and then you tell them to sit, which they will thank you again. So before i allow them to sit, i state my rules clearly. Rule no 1: No talking or shouting when i speak. Rule no 2: No walking around without my permission. Rule no 3: No throwing of any objects around the class. As you can see these are the main 3 problems every class will have. And the punishment for doing anyone of those? Sit on the dustbin until the next culprit is caught. I will make them repeat the rules once before allowing them to sit. Oh yes, changing of place is a very common request which i tend to forbid unless they have projects. But since it falls in the "walk around and talking" category, its not hard to convince them its not allowed. You cannot imagine how effective this threat works on all children, whether good or bad. Main idea is not really to make them sit on the bin, but to send a clear message to them: even though i am a relief teacher, you better not play around with me or there will be consequences. However believe it or not, there will still be some who nevertheless flout the rules but they will first be given warnings and constant reminders of the dustbin throne. Repeated offenders will then be made to sit on the bin. Oh yes, they are to pay for the bin if they break it. Hitting it where it hurt most, the Singaporean way. Till next time..
Lesson 1 : How to tell if it is really urgent?
Relief teacher? The dismay of parents, the disappointment of smart children and the fortune of naughty ones. Never have i thought that i would one day become a teacher, erm almost a teacher. Having been one for a couple of months, i would say that i have already been promoted to an "experienced" relief teacher. What is an "experienced" relief teacher? Its one who is trusted to babysit good classes =D . Not proven, but something i have been suspecting for a long long time. Anyway, the reason why i am starting this blog is to simply share my experience as a "teacher" with those who wishes to become one, or to those worried parents who have little idea of what exactly happens in the classroom and wishes to find out more. Some of you may think relief teaching is a simple job, go into the class, sit at the teacher's table, let the students go wild for that period, and finally leave the class. That is probably true for most relief teachers who don't care the least, but i am not one of those. The management of 40 kids in a classroom is no simple feat, but i can tell you, once you start to get the hang of it, it will be a very rewarding and meaningful experience.
Could remember my very first assignment almost 3 months ago. There was only one word to describe the situation : Exasperating. No school names would be mentioned here, for my fear of digital prosecution in our not so press freedom friendly country. Anyway, back to my first lesson. It was a music class for primary 2. When i was handed the schedule, I almost fell over. Music lesson??Not trained musically, i hardly know the name of the instruments handed to me. It was a bunch of noise making objects that is surely going to create one hell of a classroom. Since it was my first lesson, i didn't know what to expect, and handing out those instrument to the children was probably the stupidest thing i did in that week. Soon after the first few instruments left the music box, all hell broke loose. The kids dashed over (yes i mean dash) and started to pull out whatever that they could put their little hands on. Tried to stop them from getting out from their seats, but my shouting was simply no match for the instruments. Before it got really out of control, i screamed "STOP!" Short and sharp. With almost immediate effect, as if the entire classroom went into pause mode, they stopped! "Wow" i thought.
Also noticed that RTs have a special ability to induce pee syndrome. This is one phenomena in every single class that i go to. Why do children enjoy going to the toilet so much!? So much so that over time, a universal pee plea was created. When you turn them down, they will cover their crouch region trembling and telling you that its urgent before expressing a desperate look! How could you bear to turn them down!? Since the beginning, i have maintained a 1 by 1 toilet policy after realising that many want to go to the toilet with their friends. Has worked so far. Lesson 1, how to tell if it is really urgent. Usually when you say no firmly, only a few will turn back without a fight. A majority of them would insist that it is urgent and act out the pee plead. In most cases, they are false alarm. So i would send them back to their seats again with a firm no. They usually obey after some grumbling but works most of the time. Then finally when they complain about urgency again, they get the ticket to toilet land. There was only 1 case when a boy became exceptionally quiet and one of his classmate helped him to plea.
By the end of day 1, after a short 5 hours stint, my voice was lost. Well i survived! But badly defeated. The other staffs could only offer a sympathetic smile and words of encouragement, saying that it is normal and could have been worst. To be honest, right after that, i didn't quite look forward to the next day of battle with the primary school kids.
Could remember my very first assignment almost 3 months ago. There was only one word to describe the situation : Exasperating. No school names would be mentioned here, for my fear of digital prosecution in our not so press freedom friendly country. Anyway, back to my first lesson. It was a music class for primary 2. When i was handed the schedule, I almost fell over. Music lesson??Not trained musically, i hardly know the name of the instruments handed to me. It was a bunch of noise making objects that is surely going to create one hell of a classroom. Since it was my first lesson, i didn't know what to expect, and handing out those instrument to the children was probably the stupidest thing i did in that week. Soon after the first few instruments left the music box, all hell broke loose. The kids dashed over (yes i mean dash) and started to pull out whatever that they could put their little hands on. Tried to stop them from getting out from their seats, but my shouting was simply no match for the instruments. Before it got really out of control, i screamed "STOP!" Short and sharp. With almost immediate effect, as if the entire classroom went into pause mode, they stopped! "Wow" i thought.
Also noticed that RTs have a special ability to induce pee syndrome. This is one phenomena in every single class that i go to. Why do children enjoy going to the toilet so much!? So much so that over time, a universal pee plea was created. When you turn them down, they will cover their crouch region trembling and telling you that its urgent before expressing a desperate look! How could you bear to turn them down!? Since the beginning, i have maintained a 1 by 1 toilet policy after realising that many want to go to the toilet with their friends. Has worked so far. Lesson 1, how to tell if it is really urgent. Usually when you say no firmly, only a few will turn back without a fight. A majority of them would insist that it is urgent and act out the pee plead. In most cases, they are false alarm. So i would send them back to their seats again with a firm no. They usually obey after some grumbling but works most of the time. Then finally when they complain about urgency again, they get the ticket to toilet land. There was only 1 case when a boy became exceptionally quiet and one of his classmate helped him to plea.
By the end of day 1, after a short 5 hours stint, my voice was lost. Well i survived! But badly defeated. The other staffs could only offer a sympathetic smile and words of encouragement, saying that it is normal and could have been worst. To be honest, right after that, i didn't quite look forward to the next day of battle with the primary school kids.
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