Saturday, October 31, 2009

A challenging day.

Hmm… if only NIE will be able to give me the magic formula to handle this bunch of pupils, it will be the greatest boon for my teaching life.

I wonder what is really wrong with the class or is something wrong with me? Azra seem to be alright at one moment and not the other. The only time I see the quiet Azra is when I am reading “Charlie & The Chocolate Factory”. I wonder if he is really listening or he is just sitting at one corner sleeping away.

The only time I know he is alive and kicking is the moment I finish my story and there he goes talking away. And after that, I have to chant Azra’s name every 5 minute to make sure he stays on course and does not provoke the rest of the class to join him in passing comments at one another.

I can’t be such a lousy teacher after all right? How can I be when I am using the secret formula of what my Primary 6 teacher passed on to me, to read a story book in parts every day to the pupils. I have even gone one step further to weave the activities into my lesson plan. I remembered that the class wrote a wonderful parallel story after I have read to them about the part where one of the girl in the story expands into one big ball of blueberry after eating one of the tiny pebble-like sweets. They had such a wild of a time writing and presenting their stories in groups. So how can they not enjoy my lesson when they are enjoying the story even more and at times ask for more…?

On the other hand, after all the hard work preparing my lessons in such a way that they will enjoy, their standard of English didn’t seem to go up at all. Didn’t I follow what NIE taught me on teaching language through immersing pupils into different genre?

Well for pupils like Azra, I don’t think such a method of teaching even works. All that works with him is shouting at him and keeping him back after school to complete his work. Even his family don’t seem to help. I know his father is a diabetic patient who has one leg amputated. His mother is employed. So I can’t see what the problem is for Azra to learn when his family situation is more or less stable. Even Azra’s younger brother in Primary 1 is doing very fine in his class. That tells me there is nothing extraordinary happening in Azra’s life. I checked with his P1 to P4 teachers and they also said being firm with Azra helps. Sweet talk with him will only make him climb my head.

Oh yes, I think I am very kind to Azra also. When he stays back, I make sure I just focus on getting him complete his work and then go back as fast as possible. At times I also feed him with part of the answers so that he will not be sitting there forever to think of the answers. Why can’t Azra understand that all he needs to do is to give me what I want in terms of the school work and then I need not go after him and he can have his life after school just like other pupils in the class?

I am lost… Please help anyone if you have ever faced with such a situation.

No comments: