It's been more than 2 weeks since I've begun my new career as an educator. It certainly has been an intriguing and eye-opening experience - though sometimes I do feel I am being led on a roller-coaster ride of emotions.
I remember as I was nearing the end of my tenure in my ex-company, one of my superiors had declared aloud, "It's a pity you are leaving at this time, just as we are fighting this battle during such a difficult market situation. Go teaching, no challenge la. Oh yeah, maybe have la - the challenge of facing the demanding parents when they come to school complaining why their kids are not doing well in your class.."
I would have given him a piece of my mind there and then, but I knew better than to argue with an idiot cos one can never beat them in their own game.
Well, for a good part of 2 weeks, I certainly had a good taste of what 'challenge' means for an educator. The first class I ever set foot upon was a normal academic class, and the classroom behavior that greeted me was certainly something I had never seen before. Half the lesson was spent getting the kids to settle down, and the other half was a dressing down from the senior teacher for insubordination. Nevertheless, I slowly established a rapport with all the classes I was observing, and the job grew on me.
Yet it was only today that I realized how different it was to be leading the line on my own. Due to the school's urgent requirement, I was to be the subject teacher for 2 classes, a normal tech class and a tail-end express class.
To cut a long story short, the rowdiness, indifference, open defiance and blatant bo-chupness left me mentally drained, and I even suspected I was traumatized by the experience. I dropped Qi Qi a message at the end of the day - "I'm home. Feeling lousy after what happened in my classes today." And even after a 1 hour nap, I still wasn't able to pull myself together. 2 questions constantly nagged at me. Why weren't they responding to me? Had I adopted the wrong approach?
Yet I can always trust my soul-mate to provide the best pep talk to give me the shot in the arm that I needed. Good ol' wifey listened intently to my woes, allowed me to rant and rave before simply offering her 2 cents' worth about how I could patiently estabish a rapport with a section of the class first before slowly gaining the trust and belief of the rest of them. It all made sense immediately - a simple and soft approach to gather feedback about the class regarding me and reaching out to the class via my sincerity. More importantly, I felt re-invigorated after listening and sharing, and I reminded myself why I had given up my prospects in other fields to teach.
Thank you, my soul-mate and ever-dependable best friend...
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders; you raise me up... to more than I can be.
I remember as I was nearing the end of my tenure in my ex-company, one of my superiors had declared aloud, "It's a pity you are leaving at this time, just as we are fighting this battle during such a difficult market situation. Go teaching, no challenge la. Oh yeah, maybe have la - the challenge of facing the demanding parents when they come to school complaining why their kids are not doing well in your class.."
I would have given him a piece of my mind there and then, but I knew better than to argue with an idiot cos one can never beat them in their own game.
Well, for a good part of 2 weeks, I certainly had a good taste of what 'challenge' means for an educator. The first class I ever set foot upon was a normal academic class, and the classroom behavior that greeted me was certainly something I had never seen before. Half the lesson was spent getting the kids to settle down, and the other half was a dressing down from the senior teacher for insubordination. Nevertheless, I slowly established a rapport with all the classes I was observing, and the job grew on me.
Yet it was only today that I realized how different it was to be leading the line on my own. Due to the school's urgent requirement, I was to be the subject teacher for 2 classes, a normal tech class and a tail-end express class.
To cut a long story short, the rowdiness, indifference, open defiance and blatant bo-chupness left me mentally drained, and I even suspected I was traumatized by the experience. I dropped Qi Qi a message at the end of the day - "I'm home. Feeling lousy after what happened in my classes today." And even after a 1 hour nap, I still wasn't able to pull myself together. 2 questions constantly nagged at me. Why weren't they responding to me? Had I adopted the wrong approach?
Yet I can always trust my soul-mate to provide the best pep talk to give me the shot in the arm that I needed. Good ol' wifey listened intently to my woes, allowed me to rant and rave before simply offering her 2 cents' worth about how I could patiently estabish a rapport with a section of the class first before slowly gaining the trust and belief of the rest of them. It all made sense immediately - a simple and soft approach to gather feedback about the class regarding me and reaching out to the class via my sincerity. More importantly, I felt re-invigorated after listening and sharing, and I reminded myself why I had given up my prospects in other fields to teach.
Thank you, my soul-mate and ever-dependable best friend...
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders; you raise me up... to more than I can be.
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