Term 3 week 3

The trainee under me started teaching this week. It was a time to really reflect also on my own practices and be more aware of what works and what doesn’t. It is really true that what any teacher needs to constantly work on is the way the lesson is conducted and classroom management. After every lesson she taught, the feedback given by me was often about how to better the the lesson delivery and how to make the class a more conducive place for learning. In providing her with the feedback, I also realised how important it was to make instructions crystal clear. I am actually proud to say that I am most of the time able to make instructions clear enough, even for the lower ability students. (This is in fact something my hubby is lacking and I often get really frustrated about!) But it didn’t just come overnight. It’s years of trying and experimenting and of course, it helps being a language teacher. I know words don’t come very easily to many, and I’m glad to say I am bestowed with it
Well, coming back to teaching…this week has caused me to think back a lot on being a good teacher. Teaching is indeed a craft; an art which takes time to be perfected. In fact, in my opinion it can never be perfected. There is never 1 best way to doing something, like what I told my trainee. I often recommend her a better way of lesson delivery but I strongly encourage her to try out other ways she think may work. This is something I guess I still do, if I think I did a lousy job in the previous lesson.
Teaching is also a tool that needs to be constantly sharpened. A tool on its own is worthless unless it is being used. The mere act of using it is already sharpening itself. So, the more you use it, the better it gets.
But there’s something that I still do not have an answer to. If teaching is a tool that sharpens itself over time, why are there so many blunt and overused tools around. I’ve seen one too many experienced teachers who have dedicated half their lives to the profession but at the end of the road, they end up becoming jaded and indifferent to things. I’ve not come to that stage yet, and hope not to. Is this the law of diminishing returns? Or have these tools been put to use which are not of their original purpose? I am more inclined to think of the latter. The edge of a sharp knife often used to open a tin will soon lose its sharpness.
My mother-in-law used to boast about this good old kitchen knife she had. But she recently bought a new and better one, saying the old one has expired and no longer effective. I’m not sure why. Perhaps it has served to its fullest or has it been used like a swiss-knife; to cut, open, tear, jab, knock. Name it, and the teacher will most likely be able to do it…

Term 3 Week 2

This week is the start of the N level oral exams for the NT students. It’s a time language teachers dread as they have to toil every afternoon to examine candidates. Myself not spared, I have to drag my feet to a nearby secondary school to perform my teacher-ly duties
Yes on one hand it serves to once again sharpen my tools for examining / teaching students oral skills, on the other, I wonder if more provision can be made to make the job less dreadful for the countless of language teachers across the island. On Tue, I only finished lesson at 1330 but had to arrive at the school by 1415. It is an almost impossible task since any teacher knows the ring of the bell is not indicative of the time you step out of the classroom. Eventually I only got to leave school at 1345 and reached the school past 1415. I was late but not due to my doings. I later found out from other colleagues that the official release time from classes (for teachers across all schools) was only 1330. How is the teacher/examiner expected to be able to perform at optimum when there is so little provision made? Let’s not even talk about a time to breathe, less a decent lunch. My fellow examiner survives on morsels of biscuits few minutes before the start of the exams at 1430. Life of a teacher.
Well, that aside, during this week of meeting various candidates, the private candidates were the ones who left the deepest impressions in me. The private candidates were people from various walks of life. Yes, a bulk were those from the beng-lian clan who finally decided they had enough of taking orders behind the Macdonalds counter. Then there were a couple of China nationals who were ordered by their employers to get their English standards right. I must say I was impressed with them. Despite their jerky attempts at expressing themselves, they were mostly clear and understood. We highlighted what they could do rather than what they couldn’t and decided they at least deserved to pass. Then there was this lady who looked as old as my mom, sat waiting for her turn. She seemed to have a lot on her mind. I did not even know why she wanted to sit for an English exam at this age. When it was her turn, like all other candidates, she greeted us before taking her seat. It was weird having someone as old as your mom greeting you like this. She read but with some amount of difficulty. Still she managed to finish it decently. During the conversation, I found out she was even taking night classes to improve herself. I didn’t manage to find out why she decided to take an exam at this age.
But what I figured out at the end was that she had a love for learning and bettering herself. It’s something that many youngsters lack. Perhaps she didn’t have the oppurtunity to do so in her younger days and is not making up for lost time. Such are the people many can learn from, myself included.

Term 3 Week 1

What a way to start the term – having to go to class every morning to check the students’ temperatures. Honestly, I think the temperature check does not help in screening the affected ones. It’s been reported time and time again that infected people may not even be running a temperature. Still, I think the ministry is just getting everyone to do it to appease someone out there; that Singapore schools ARE taking active measures to curb the spread of the virus
For the first time, I actually have a trainee teacher under me. And of all people, she is my music ex-pupil!! Don’t know if it’s a good or bad thing. Bad cos it makes me feel really ancient (the photo frame she gave me during teacher’s day is still sitting on my table!) But seeing how she was once a music student becoming now a music teacher gives me some sense of accomplishment As for me, this time, I’m not imparting content knowledge to her. It’s sharing of teaching strategies and experiences. I really hope she will be able to learn a “trick” or two from me. These 2 weeks are still purely observation. I guess I will have more to share with her when she starts teaching.
It was a little uncomfortable having someone watch you at almost lesson, doing almost the same thing. It feels like a broken record being watched over and over again But it definitely made me more conscious of what I was doing in class. I even made an extra effort to make sure I didn’t say the same thing for the next Sec 1 GMP class. This experience did make me realise the extend of differences each class possess. Even amongst the 4 Express classes, they had different dynamics, thus creating a different setting for teaching to take place. I was able to share and teach more for classes that showed more enthusiasm, while the slower ones required me to repeat certain things in different ways. It REALLY does help being a language teacher At the end of it all, I was still able to accomplish what I had minimally set out for the classes to do.
I can FINALLY get to teach my form class (1N1) English! Not that I love seeing them every other day, it was a need-to basis. I felt I was more in control of them and I hope they will slowly start to take to me. At least I know I will finally be able to answer their parents with conviction the next time they ask me “How’s my boy/girl in class?”