A Hectic Day as a Trainee Teacher in School

Date: 2^nd April 2019

Teaching is not an easy profession.

Today, I went into a Year 1 classroom as a “Guru Ganti” aka REPLACEMENT TEACHER. The class was horrible. It is not about the physical environment of the classroom, it is the pupils’ behaviour. Year 1 pupils are the worse to handle because they are kind of “hyper” in a sense that they will do whatever they like, and you don’t wish that they will listen to you because they won’t.

The kids are fighting, teasing, and not under control. Can you imagine yourself teaching this bunch of monkeys?

Simply put, teaching Year 1 pupils is not easy because the pupils are very hard to focus on the lesson especially when the teacher is like giving a “lecture” (this is very me because the way I deliver my lesson is really like a lecture! Haha). They want the teacher’s attention all the time. Due to that, some of them are quite naughty and they will just do anything that can attract the teacher’s attention. Let’s say, 2 of my pupils today hurt their friends by punching them in the belly, or any parts of the body that you can imagine (including the sensitive part of boys, get it?) just to get teacher’s attention. Wait, you ask how do I know all these happen? Because after that there will be “good boy good girl” that come and report to me. And owh, good to know that these good boys and girls are also seeking your ATTENTION! But the question is, the ratio of teacher and pupils are 1:40 (it is VERY normal to have a class size of 40 pupils in a city school so I wish I do not get city schools when I’m posted). How does a teacher divide her attention to the whole class is a knowledge worth to be studied. It was my first day of entering the Year 1 class after a week’s holiday, the children are just too excited to meet one another and (I hope they do) get knowledge from the teacher. But, I did not prepare much for the lesson because I was informed to replace three hours prior entering the class (I know this shouldn’t be my excuse right…haha). But I did my best to control the class but pupils just do not give attention and respect to me. They talk and laugh while I’m talking, they walk around and play with friends, they hurt their friends to get attention and all that. I tried to control the class but I failed anyhow. Sometimes I wonder how do I control these monkeys tho…

Talking about pre-class, I did go online to search for some interesting activities for Year 1. I tried them out and yes although it was fun, but only a few pupils that paid attention to the activities (sobs). Oh I also lost my voice halfway through the class thanks to the pupils who were very noisy and I had to shout my way to get their attention. Imagine, a teacher needs to fight 40 pupils’ voices at a time (how can a teacher does that? Lol). How many hacks sweets that a teacher needs to stock up for a year? That’s why I think it was my problem for failing to handle a class due to my inexperience in teaching. Perhaps, there are better ways to control a class other than shouting. To fellow teachers who are entering the ‘zoo’ next time, I would advise you to bring a portable microphone to save your voice .

 

my tired face after the class lol

THE HAYWIRE ACTIVITIES

One of the activities that I carried out with the Year 1 pupils is “Draw and Guess”. The game’s like this, the teacher draws an object on the board for example, a car, then pupils have to guess the name of the object and write it on the board. Yes, the game looks simple (in our imagination) but it is very hard to handle year 1 pupils. If you were there in my class, you will question me because my conduct is literally way out. The class was haywire, some pupils at the back simply don’t care what I’m doing (or because they think it was too boring!), some pupils continue doing their homework from the previous classes(blah blah blah). IT IS NOT AN EASY JOB TO TEACH!

IN A COOKIE BOX

So that was my experience in handling a bunch of monkeys in a primary school. I know I was not good in handling the children in class and I screwed up the class. But there is a Chinese proverb which reminds me that failure is the first step towards SUCCESS!. When I went out of the class, I reminded myself to keep a positive mind and do not give up on teaching. Somehow someday, I will find my way to organise my class so that it is more disciplined (and so that I do not have to shout all day ☹) and pupils give attention to me and also to my lesson. One day, I will fight my way back and become a better teacher! One day! 😊.