I still remember my first year at Cat High. Technically, it was just 6 months as I was posted in Semester 2, so I only had to teach a class for 2 terms in the second half of the year. I was a terrible teacher. I was too strict, unforgiving and not that compassionate. I was very by the book and I'm pretty sure I wasn't well-liked. But I did get the grades though.
4 years on from that day, I have toned down considerably. I am still strict but I allow some leeway and only under extreme circumstances do I enforce punishment. But I still do get the grades. And I am a whole lot happier teaching now than I was when I first started. The main difference is that I connected with the boys. It took me some time to realise that they are people too and they have feelings. They have their off-days as well and need some time to themselves. I can't force them if they're not mentally up to it. Just like adults. That to me, is the difference between a good teacher and a great teacher.
Yan Wei, from my P5 Health Ed class invited me to his 11th birthday party. Now, I have been to a couple of birthday parties but what made this special for me is that this kid is in a class that I teach only a period a week. I see them once a week for 30mins. His class has 40 pupils and in a single period lesson, I would speak for the majority of the time while the rest would have to listen to me. The unruly and the talkative ones would get my attention. Yan Wei, is quiet. He'd be the kind of kid you'd often overlook. I knew him the year before because of the musical but we didn't have a chance to interact. So it came as a surprise to me that he invited me! Obviously I had to go. Imagine the amount of courage he had to muster to invite a teacher he hardly spoke to!
Go, I did. And I am glad that I did. I saw the boys of the class in a new light and they saw me in a new light too. I am not uptight and I do not put on the teacher act after school hours and especially not outside of school. I enjoyed their company at the party and I am sure they enjoyed mine too. We got to know each other on a more personal level and a newfound respect was built. They are still kids after all, and tried to push the boundaries but they knew their limits too. I honestly felt sad to part ways and head home when the party ended.
I still stand by what I said, the pupils whom I have taught, have taught me to become a better teacher. Now that's something NIE doesn't teach you.
