Saturday, November 24, 2012

End of Week 9

Today I finished teaching my last classes of Week 9 since I've started work, which makes upcoming Monday the beginning of Week 10 for me. I don't know why, but I still like the idea of keeping count although it's ultimately pointless. Makes me sort of realise perhaps, how far I've come.

Last week for example, I discovered my demon voice. That is, I finally broke the shouting barrier. I'm the sort of person that likes to be as un-angry and un-upset as possible, and I tend to yell only when I'm very upset. Well last week when I was teaching a class of 9 year olds, I finally managed to break that taboo and shout at them to quieten down, even though I wasn't actually angry but afraid they were causing too much noise. Then they ended up staring at me wide-eyed for a while, before resuming their shenanigans a short while later. Kids. Nothing fazes them.

This week was kind of miserable. I ended having to rush planning and deal with mountains of (still unfinished) marking, and I'm not a fan of having to rush anything. I was called to emergency work late on Tuesday, and on Thursday I stayed back of my own accord to finish up some marking. I realised that I hadn't eaten dinner with my family at home since last Saturday! Boo. Hiss.

Today also marked a sort of landmark for me. While teaching a class of 10 year olds (which I taught last week and really liked!), one of the boys got really upset and threatened/stared down the kid next to him, and I had to step in to diffuse the situation. It worked the first time, and then I went back to teaching again, only for the same thing to erupt again later. It transpired that the boy (according to the kids after class too) was kind of sensitive, and the other students had taken it upon their tiny shoulders to tease him so he could become 'stronger'. I tried very hard not to face palm when I heard that from the girls. Solid reasoning? I have no idea.

Though that being said, I feel sad that I won't get to teach them anymore. They were really a lovely class and I grew fond of them from just two lessons. One of the girls asked me afterwards why I was so weird compared to the other teachers in the centre, who were 'so serious and practical'. I consider that an immense compliment. I just hoped it meant they actually learned something from when I taught them.

Earlier on Tuesday, I was extremely pleased by something my mentor told me. She said that she saw how patiently I handled one of the students last time I was in her class, and that she decided to follow my lead. I was so happy at hearing that I thought I'd burst. Imagine! Me! Being all inspirational and shit! Oh my indeed. And apparently after trying my method, the student had started improving lots in her class, which again I was really happy to hear. Miracle case apparently, lol.

My mentor also offered me a lift back home, which I gladly took. On the way back, I mentioned a bit about Ryan and his severe autism, and her reaction was 'AIYA, no wonder you're so patient with E (the student's name)!' So, HAHAHA, I guess growing up with a brother like that has had a tangible effect on me. Hooray for little things.

1 comment:

Trebuchet said...

Always a pleasure to read about your life in education... :)