amy2kyo

Since the set teaching was commenced, subject teachers (within the level) changed too, so my colleague took over mine while I took over hers. Surprisingly, the class that she took over gave her a massive headache. I wondered, so I asked some of the students during recess. They told me they don’t like that teacher and purposefully spoil the mood of the lesson and all that the teacher could do is to scold. Not a win-win situation.

I just learned that people can react so differently to others.

Strange but it’s true.

Thanks to the weather, I’m ill. I felt like a withered flower longing for energy from the sun.

School was good today even though the body is not. Why was I glad? The advices on responsibility worked and my pupils actually behaved like they’re responsible people. Isn’t that great if they can be like that EVERY SINGLE DAY. It made my day.

It’s a cooling weather because it has been raining since dawn. I couldn’t stand the chill so I wore a jacket to class. One said, “Ms Amy, your jacket looks so nice!” and another one said, “Oh, you look fashionable today, teacher.” and then another one said, “Nice jacket and it’s pink!” Like OMG. Handling 12-year-olds, that’s basically what they observe – fashion and clothing.

As moody as the weather, I addressed about responsibility in the classroom before the lesson ended. Responsibility comes with consequences. A task as simple as completing homework has its consequences too. It’s really not much of assignments that I gave and since they had an hour of homework time in school, it’s more than enough.

Ughhh.

Today’s another angry day. Certain pupils who do not complete the assignments given to them are those who simply being lazy. I’ve given them the homework worksheets since Wednesday and they had a total of five days to complete them. What’s more if they’ve written the homework into their homework organizers? I just couldn’t understand these children. Is it too much stress for them? I DOUBT. Or are they being purely lazy? I’ve noticed some pupils might have lost their freedom at home and this could cause them to rebel but work is work, play is play. They should know how to differentiate between work and play.

I’ve tried scolding.
I’ve tried punishing.
I’ve tried advising.
I’ve tried rewarding.

Yet, nothing works. It all depends on their own mindset and self-motivation. Not to forget parents’ encouragement. I seriously think family support works.

Once I’ve thought that these kids should be sent to a boarding school. See how they’d suffer when there’s so much lesser freedom.

>.<

What I’ve found out today, was that, when a pupil has the intention to copy answers from their friends, s/he would give “the look” at the question papers of their friends or whosoever that they could see. They also would scout around to see if the teacher is looking at them or if the teacher is being alert in the class.

Some would put a smirk on their faces thinking that they were caught red handed and tried to smile as though to say sorry. Some would show signs they created to represent numbers or letters. After the hard attempts of copying, some succeeded, some did not and got scolded. Yet could happily denied the accusations. Well, they’re just being the GREAT PRETENDERS. Yes, they are.

Children are funny people.

I realised that giving an A to a pupil who always achieve Bs or Cs is a very great thing to do. I can still remember the smile that appeared on this boy’s face. It not only puts a big smile on that person’s face, it also gives that person a whole lot of confidence and it created a vast difference too. Why? He/She would work harder than ever to maintain that good grade as it gives them a license to boast about their achievement. I was amazed with the effect.

Having said that, some who got a B or C really wouldn’t care less about the results. They don’t really work hard for it not desired to see a good result. Sad case indeed.

Being a teacher of one of the crucial exam levels, there are always fast tips for pupils to follow to obtain the quickest way to get an A. Hence the search for the relevant details and put them altogether for easy referencing. I was delighted when I saw pupils following the guidelines explained and taught. They could actually write better and therefore scored higher marks. If they keep it that way, they’ll surely achieve good results in the real exam.

I don’t really mind helping pupils after school. If it’s worth the time and effort, I would definitely give my best to bring out the best of them.

The trial tests kept me busy as I needed to adjust the time and buck up! It’s not an easy task to complete the marking of 50 sets of test papers every week!

It’s the fifth trial test now. No more teaching, it’s only test test test.

For this time, I gave an A to a pupil who constantly scored B and I realised giving this A was worth it. It not only put a big smile on that person’s face but it gave that person whole lot of confidence and it seemed to make a vast difference too. Why? He/She would want to work harder to main the good grade (It also gave them the license to boast too!! Haha). Well, having said this, there are some who really couldn’t care less about their results whether it’s an A, B or even C. I’ve done all I could, it’s up to them to follow.

The usual thing a teacher would do for pupils to achieve better in their grades is to find a shortcut. In this case, I meant fast tips. For high and low, I searched and compiled the guidelines altogether into two or three A4 size papers. I was delighted to see pupils followed the tips, my hard work paid off when my weakest pupil could at least obtained a B from D.

Pupils could do their best in tests or exams for many reasons :
1. to excel
2. to achieve their targeted goals
3. to stop parents’ nags
4. to stop teachers’ nags
5. to avoid going for after-school remedial classes
6. to be teachers’ favourites
7. to get teachers’ attention
8. to avoid being punished

Haha!

If you want to bear children, please give them the attention and time they need. No point sending kids to a day-care centre just to prevent them from watching tv at home after school. Relying on others to take care of your kids just doesn’t show that you’re responsible. Shove $$ into their pocket is another “way” to keep them quiet. That however, will become something they look up to instead of your tender love and care. Staying a few doors away is not that far. Cant’t really make an effort to be together with them? Even just that few hours is good enough.

Imagine a kid say “I only see my parents on Saturdays.” and “I only see my parents every night.” Kids would not benefit from these.

Don’t make an excuse to cover your absence instead make an effort to show them your love no matter how busy you are.

Don’t reward them with money when they have achieved something instead take them for a trip and spend some quality time together.

If a teacher tells you something bad about your kid, what do you do? Nod and agree because you know your child cannot be improved? Or be shocked “Oh really?!” because you don’t really know your child as you don’t spend so much time with them?

Think again.

Please, have them by your sides.

*it’s just my points of view, I might be wrong as I did not consider their situation.

What would you do if you had the Green Lantern’s Power Ring for a day?

I would turn all kids with bad-ass attitude to goody-two-shoes, so they would never give headaches to their teachers ever again. Also, with this ring, I would create portals for teleportation from one place to the other. This way, students who do not pay attention during lessons could be sent away rather than distracting others in the classroom. Then teleport them back once they have realized what they have done wrong. EVIL! >.<”

No I’m not evil, think again. Those kids who used to give me headache (and still are doing it) are devils.

I would like to create a dictionary that could appear at any point of time when someone needs it, just with a flick of finger + thoughts of the object. (The dictionary appears in holograms for convenience.) This would help all students (I mean everyone) to get the words they wanted and spell it right. (I’m tired of answering the question, “Teacher, how to spell so and so.”) Heh.

Sometimes it’s very hard when two people have the different ways to do certain things.