So tomorrow marks the last day being an English teacher to 37 kids in my primary 3 class. Sure, the kids drove me crazy at times and it could be so frustrating but there were a lot happy times and I 'd miss having kids come up to me telling me stories about their day and such. Or interrupting me in the middle of a lesson just to boast about some achievement. Or having kids that tease me about boyfriends. Sigh.
After almost 6 months of teaching, I can say that teaching is very challenging and till now, I don't quite know if I've really helped my kids or made them more confused. Mind you, most of them are from chinese schools and they hardly speak or use lessons apart from lessons. While I noticed slight changes in some kids (IE being more attentive, doing their work well, actually asking questions and taking lessons seriously), there hasn't been anything really life-changing. Sometimes I feel that I've not tried hard enough or cared enough. At times I feel like I suck at teaching because it's just hard to explain why a language works that way when the rules of the language are so confusing to begin with. Le sigh.
With that said, I am thankful to have these 37 kids in this chapter of life. They've never been overly monstrous or too hard to control. I learned to be a more positive motivator through them and can actually stretch my patience out more. Will I step back into the field of education? Time will tell. Currently, I am leaning towards a career which is more creative-based. Of course, God works in mysterious ways and it's hard to tell what the future holds!
Pictures with my kids and of the kids! In no particular order, of course, because yours truly is quite lazy to arrange them pics. Heh.
With some of my Monday 2.15 pm kids! Another kid was taking the pic. Only 4 boys but mind you, the noise that they can make! From left, we have Yuriz, Nigel & Fazwan. After handing out their farewell gifts and snapping photos, Yuriz came back to class to 'salam' with me and to say thanks. I will be seeing him tomorrow again but that gesture was really touching. Fazwan has always been adorable and good and smart and Nigel has the tendency to go from one extreme to another. Ah well.
Group shot of the boys! Muqrif is the one in the green shirt. I remember him crying once just cos he couldn't finish his work on time. Anyway, he has been doing pretty okay in class after that and we have laughed off the whole crying issue.
With Yuriz, Muqrif & Fazwan! Since it is the fasting month, the boys were pretty gungho about fasting in the first few days of the Ramadhan month. Soon, Yuriz was secretly going to the washroom to drink tap water and buying canned drinks and I heard the rest of the boys fasting for half-day and by this week, most of them have stopped fasting. Kids indeed. Yuriz claimed that fasting is not good. Hehe.
Some of my Tuesday and Saturday 'monsters'! From left we have Daniel, Esmond & Caleb. Daniel is just super adorable and would love talking to himself about things. He also loves making sentences with "I want to eat..." and you can fill in the blank with any word in the English dictionary and loves talking about destroying things. Esmond is pretty talented in art and can be silly at times. Caleb has gotten the idea that my boyfriend is Super Junior. I don't even.
Anyway.
The kids have Computer Lesson every Monday till Wednesday and the lessons would always be half an hour long. Caleb and Daniel have the tendency to either skip lessons or quickly finish early just to come back to class to....talk nonsense with me. Which is pretty cute. Caleb is a pretty slow learner but he has been paying more attention to his work as of late. I'll miss them monsters.
On Tuesday
Wednesday girls! From left, Hui Ying, Erica, Natalie and Evelyn. Natalie is one of the most adorable kids around. She squeaks a lot and makes random noises. Evelyn is super smart and always has things to tell me about her day or activities in school. Erica just joined the class last month but has proven to be a pretty smart kid from a chinese school. Hui Ying is always joining singing competitions and is a squash player as well. Smart, always has things to say and is always, always busy with activities.
My Wednesday 4.15 pm kids! We have from left (back) Evaness, Jayden & Jordan. Evaness is 12 and from the Philippines. She has hardly been in class as she travels around a lot but she has always been pleasant when she is in class. Jayden is always helpful and has things to to tell me (usually nonsense heh). He has been trying hard in class well and is pretty competitive. Jordan has also been working pretty hard as of late and trying to do his work well. That is the face he likes to pull for fun. He has started to grow on me in these months with his funny antics and the way he talks. Up front from left, we have Rowena, new girl too but really smart and gentle and just really good, Meng Yao, Jia Yuan, Mandy and Virginia.
Meng Yao has learning disabilities and it has been a roller coaster of a ride trying to teach him. When he is in one of his distracting moods, it is almost impossible to ask him to do anything Once during revision class, he came up to me and said, "Teacher, I'm very happy today because I have many friends". Being a kid that is different has been difficult judging from the cuts and bruises he has gotten from being bullied in school He is a good kid and I will miss motivating him and having him sit next to me too. Jia Yuan and Mandy are the work hard, do well type and they've been cute and always trying their best. Virginia sort of lives in her own world and would be distracted but she can always come up with something to add to the lesson when she can.
Monday 4.15 pm kids! The 4 girls 1 boy class. From back left we have Carrie, Audrey and Ek Kai. Up front we have Rachel and Ainsley (with specs).
Ainsley and Rachel, my little aunty. Haha.
With le me. Rachel lives up to her name as a little aunty who is smart and always eating junk food! She is a real cutie really with her mannerisms an the way she talks. Ainsley is a pretty smart girl but she can be pretty careless at times. One thing I like about her is her ability to accept criticisms with a smile and trying to work at it again.
My little aunty and Audrey. Audrey has got to be one of the most talkative kids in class. She talks like an adult and is a little troublemaker at times.
My little aunty again and Ek Kai! Ek Kai is a humourous kid who has things to say about the lesson. He is little too active an always wants something to do. I'll miss his antics and nonsense talk.
Aunty and Carrie! Carrie is super quiet since she is pretty weak in the language but she has been trying to be better and is slowly making slight improvements,
Tuesday 2 pm kids! Back left we have Jean, Jamie, Chang Yi & Benjamin. In front we have Justin, Lee Hing, Kwang Zhen and Ben. This has got to be my quietest class despite the number of kids. Most of them are good kids who are weak in the language but are willing to learn. Ben used to be really hard to work with in the beginning. Soon, he started changing and trying to do better in class! Ben & Benjamin are actually brothers and I'll miss them coming up to me to tell me about computer games and other little stories. Justin is a small little boy who always writes carefully. Lee Hing, Chang Yi & Kwang Zhen were the very first kids I taught in my first day of class. They have been easy to work with, pleasant and adorable kids.
Jean and Jamie! Smart and good girls.
My Tuesday 4.15 pm girls! From left (back) we have my other aunty Pei Yi who is really quite aunty like and is always snacking and love saying "Me is..." instead of "I am", Joey the hyper active girl who is girly girl all over, Yue Ying and Carissa who are always together and good listeners and Nicole who can be a little slow but I guess she does try. She is more of an art person as well from what I see in her work.
Telling them it was my last teaching weeks wasn't really easy. They were pretty reluctant to let me go and vice versa but another chapter has to close for a new one to open. I told them they would eventually leave to go to primary four but they said they would not be able to come visit me in class anymore after that.
Last minute farewell cards from some girls and one from the colleagues! The nature of our job does not really give us time to bond with one another but I'm glad to have known them and to have learned how to teach from them. Very valuable indeed.
A random achievement moment to talk about! If you scroll through the photos, you may recall seeing me wear a black shirt in the pics. Well, previously, I needed an extra button put in just to button the whole thing but now it fits just fine without any extra button! My punjabi suit (pictured above as well) fits much better as well!
However, although I may be working out and all, I have not exactly been eating clean and seeing my tummy and other problem areas just makes me feel like a pig. I know I have to eat cleaner to get leaner but doing it here can be pretty challenging. Le sigh. Sometimes slow progress can be pretty irritating. My arms are also looking pretty big and I am waiting for the day where I can say "My body is fine" to arrive! I need them muscles SOON.
Have started Body Rock as well which has pretty much killed me but I am loving it. Now if people can just stop tempting me with food!
Till the next update.
