Yesterday, it was quite a stressful day because I had 3 classes in a row with 2 of my challenging classes with 20 minutes of rest. Besides, my Penolong Kanan Petang wanted to observe one of my classes to evaluate and give mark on my performance.
I was teaching 1SP3 when the evaluation was carried out. Initially, I was worried because this class was pretty challenging and occasionally, I had a hard time in teaching and managing them. The experience was like riding on a roller coaster. Sometimes I triumphed like a gold medal boxer, sometimes I fell down like a humpty dumpty - worthless.
But, parts of me believe that they are talented and have promising future if they're being understood and taught purposefully. So, I give my day another fight with better preparation for the 1 hour of class.
So like usual, in the beginning of the class I asked all my students to get into groups. This time, they had to move their tables and formed 8 groups. To my surprise, they are as good as other tested class. They moved and settled within 2 minutes. I am so proud!! In the mean time, I asked them to write their group name on a recycled paper with my magic color and then stick on their group table to appear visible.
I didn't have much time to learn their group names, except the numbers because my mind was channeled to rush the lesson so that the daily objective can be achieved.
The session was a success where I managed to receive full engagement from 30/33 students with my teaching aids and see them working actively together in their group after that.
They even tried their best to finish up their PBS (form 1 exam) even though the time was up. Comparing to the beginning of the years, almost half of them would had given up after attempting a few questions.
As I was leaving the class with an army of students who volunteered to help me carried my bags and books to the staff room, all the group leaders handed their group names with a smile.
I didn't aware the meaning behind the smiles until I read their papers at my home (now). Probably some of them were happy that my Maths time was over but to some... they might be happy to have me as their teacher *beam*
I admit that, sometimes I will unintentionally look over small little detail. Sometimes, I will exaggerate small failure into disaster. Sometimes I will too focus in the big goal and forget to appreciate the relationship I have with my students.
Teaching is not just a job but something beyond the job. If you really care for the children, there is no fine line in describing your job scope as a teacher.
Thank you guys for the wonderful experience.
Let’s work hard together in achieving our dreams. Promise
<3