Teaching is a Passion, Not Just a Job
To be frank, I dun really know what to write for the mo. I've found my mind to be in a blank state. All I do is staring at the computer screen figuring and cracking my head just to find the right words to write. I want to blab about what's going on with me these few days, but I figure that it would be plainly boring. My life has not changed a bit, things just remain constant at the time being. All I think about now, even when I sleep, is work, work and more work.
I start my day as early as 5.30 in the morning. I take my bath, perform my morning prayer, prepare myself for school. It takes me only about 5 to 10 minutes to reach school and I really enjoy listening to loud music in the car on my way there. The first thing I'd do is getting myself a strong cup of coffee. If one is not sufficient to contain my sleepiness or exhaustion, I'd be more than willing to help myself to another cup. You can say that I have an uncontrolled addiction for caffeine, yes I do. Feeling afresh, I am more ready to go through another day of my life. As a form teacher, I need to take attendance after the first bell is rung. Sometimes, it can be frustrating to find students coming in late when I've already marked "0" for their attendance. I think my register book is one of the messiest books ever, scribbled away with corrections and initials all over it. Keeping up with the absenties and documentations is another matter. That's just the way it is.
My routine in a day varies from day to day, depending on my timetable. The most I could have in a day is 6 periods. Sometimes, I could get relief periods in between. And there are co-curricular activities and meetings as well. Anyway, I'd spend my free time marking books or exam/test papers, preparing work sheets or teaching aids, or writing lesson plans. There just seems to be no end for it. But in a way, I feel extremely lucky to have had only two forms to be taught this year. At least I think I could concentrate more on the teaching, unlike last year when I taught some classes of all forms except Form 2!
I try to use or prepare loads of materials or work sheets for my lessons. I know it can be boring having to use text books most of the time. One good thing about these materials is that they can be reused, altered and recycled a few times according to the students' levels. I try my very best to come up with interesting activities to engage my students during the lesson. Some of them respond well while some don't, well, different students, different attitudes. I also try to minimise the teacher-centred approach and help my students to cultivate autonomous learning both in and after school. Still, this also depends on the level of the students. I try to involve my students in a situation which comes as close as possible to being a real one so that they can see the practical side of it. So, involvement is the key to the success of student-centred approach. Weaker students, on the other hand, need to be aided step-by-step in order to get even one thing right. Sometimes, you need to spend more time on them until they are able to master it before you move on to the next one. I simply can't describe the feeling whenever they get it right, or at least apply or put to use the things I'd taught them. I may be strict but that's just the way I am. It's not really the students' fault if they are considered as 'slow-learners'; I believe that each student is teachable when they're willing to try and not give up. All that they need is more time to cope up. This is one of the major challenges that I need to face if I were to remain in the teaching line.
But as much as I want my students to be independent learners, ironically, drill-based instruction is still the most effective method to teach grammar (based on my observations). Drills and repetitions through rote-learning help the students to understand the forms better. This might differ for other teachers or students. However, teaching a grammar point can turn into a frustrating situation especially when the students are at a low level, so what you can do is actually come up with interesting games or by relating the situation with their own experiences. This is so that the students will feel less threatened by the rules, and they can have fun and learn simultaneously.
I also believe in cooperative learning as it serves as a source of motivation as well. In addition, it will also promote team spirit among its members since they all work towards the same goal. Through group work, the students will be able to get to know their friends better and establish a rapport with one another through varied interactions. Working with friends can also boost their confidence level for they feel more comfortable having someone of the same level as theirs in the same group. I'm sure that it will not be worse in terms of idea or creativity although their work may be lack of accuracy in the language. However, if the members are too passive, there's a high probability that they will not be able to achieve the objectives of the group work. That's the point where I assume that mixing the students of different levels could work. Cooperative learning is all about cooperating with and helping one another to learn something, not just the matter of completing the task without learning anything in the end. And yeah, the reward system might work, too! With the right reward and recognition that are easy to be used and administered, I believe that we could inspire the students to perform better as well as provide them many opportunities to explore their full potentials in different fronts.
Yes, as a grown-up, I just can't deny the importance and usefulness of school education. There's more to it than sitting in the classroom listening to the teacher lecturing, or doing pair work, group work, projects, and presentations. A teacher, no matter how much he or she knows, cannot teach their students everything they want to know. Our real job is to show the students how to learn and how to think. The students are responsible to discover all the other things themselves. I still remember a saying that goes - “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach him how to fish, and you feed him for a life time.” Thus, we can see how the role of a teacher has changed over the years. Apart from being a sole giver, I 'd prefer to view myself as a guide or facilitator instead to ensure that my students are able to develop holistically well beyond the classroom. I'm not aiming to be world's No. 1 teacher; I just love teaching, and that's the way it will always be, and that's all that matters. =)
I start my day as early as 5.30 in the morning. I take my bath, perform my morning prayer, prepare myself for school. It takes me only about 5 to 10 minutes to reach school and I really enjoy listening to loud music in the car on my way there. The first thing I'd do is getting myself a strong cup of coffee. If one is not sufficient to contain my sleepiness or exhaustion, I'd be more than willing to help myself to another cup. You can say that I have an uncontrolled addiction for caffeine, yes I do. Feeling afresh, I am more ready to go through another day of my life. As a form teacher, I need to take attendance after the first bell is rung. Sometimes, it can be frustrating to find students coming in late when I've already marked "0" for their attendance. I think my register book is one of the messiest books ever, scribbled away with corrections and initials all over it. Keeping up with the absenties and documentations is another matter. That's just the way it is.
My routine in a day varies from day to day, depending on my timetable. The most I could have in a day is 6 periods. Sometimes, I could get relief periods in between. And there are co-curricular activities and meetings as well. Anyway, I'd spend my free time marking books or exam/test papers, preparing work sheets or teaching aids, or writing lesson plans. There just seems to be no end for it. But in a way, I feel extremely lucky to have had only two forms to be taught this year. At least I think I could concentrate more on the teaching, unlike last year when I taught some classes of all forms except Form 2!
I try to use or prepare loads of materials or work sheets for my lessons. I know it can be boring having to use text books most of the time. One good thing about these materials is that they can be reused, altered and recycled a few times according to the students' levels. I try my very best to come up with interesting activities to engage my students during the lesson. Some of them respond well while some don't, well, different students, different attitudes. I also try to minimise the teacher-centred approach and help my students to cultivate autonomous learning both in and after school. Still, this also depends on the level of the students. I try to involve my students in a situation which comes as close as possible to being a real one so that they can see the practical side of it. So, involvement is the key to the success of student-centred approach. Weaker students, on the other hand, need to be aided step-by-step in order to get even one thing right. Sometimes, you need to spend more time on them until they are able to master it before you move on to the next one. I simply can't describe the feeling whenever they get it right, or at least apply or put to use the things I'd taught them. I may be strict but that's just the way I am. It's not really the students' fault if they are considered as 'slow-learners'; I believe that each student is teachable when they're willing to try and not give up. All that they need is more time to cope up. This is one of the major challenges that I need to face if I were to remain in the teaching line.
But as much as I want my students to be independent learners, ironically, drill-based instruction is still the most effective method to teach grammar (based on my observations). Drills and repetitions through rote-learning help the students to understand the forms better. This might differ for other teachers or students. However, teaching a grammar point can turn into a frustrating situation especially when the students are at a low level, so what you can do is actually come up with interesting games or by relating the situation with their own experiences. This is so that the students will feel less threatened by the rules, and they can have fun and learn simultaneously.
I also believe in cooperative learning as it serves as a source of motivation as well. In addition, it will also promote team spirit among its members since they all work towards the same goal. Through group work, the students will be able to get to know their friends better and establish a rapport with one another through varied interactions. Working with friends can also boost their confidence level for they feel more comfortable having someone of the same level as theirs in the same group. I'm sure that it will not be worse in terms of idea or creativity although their work may be lack of accuracy in the language. However, if the members are too passive, there's a high probability that they will not be able to achieve the objectives of the group work. That's the point where I assume that mixing the students of different levels could work. Cooperative learning is all about cooperating with and helping one another to learn something, not just the matter of completing the task without learning anything in the end. And yeah, the reward system might work, too! With the right reward and recognition that are easy to be used and administered, I believe that we could inspire the students to perform better as well as provide them many opportunities to explore their full potentials in different fronts.
Yes, as a grown-up, I just can't deny the importance and usefulness of school education. There's more to it than sitting in the classroom listening to the teacher lecturing, or doing pair work, group work, projects, and presentations. A teacher, no matter how much he or she knows, cannot teach their students everything they want to know. Our real job is to show the students how to learn and how to think. The students are responsible to discover all the other things themselves. I still remember a saying that goes - “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach him how to fish, and you feed him for a life time.” Thus, we can see how the role of a teacher has changed over the years. Apart from being a sole giver, I 'd prefer to view myself as a guide or facilitator instead to ensure that my students are able to develop holistically well beyond the classroom. I'm not aiming to be world's No. 1 teacher; I just love teaching, and that's the way it will always be, and that's all that matters. =)
Okay, okay, enough of my teacher-talk or I might bore you completely to death. =)
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