Tiring but fulfilling
I'm on week 9 of my volunteering stint at Westminister Academy. I used to think I can't teach from my previous experience as a private tutor. This indian girl I taught never seemed to understand what I said. And no matter how hard I tried, teaching her to think was exceptionally difficult. But I have realized that, even with trained teachers, it's a difficulty, and that made me feel better.
Last tuesday's math class was a horror. I entered the classroom and children were shouting back at their teacher, Mr B. I was pretty surprised as I have worked with that teacher in a different class before and he was good, in my opinion. At least better than Mr moyo from another class who tried too hard to be a friend with his kids. There was this girl who absolutely had no fear. She told the teacher it was rude to point and that he can't teach and that he was wasting her education. I have never seen a girl her age with such a brazen attitude before. The class size was under 20 but it seemed like hell was about to break loose. Finally, Mr B asked me to call for reinforcement which helped calm things down a bit. I tried imagine myself in his shoes, and I wondered how in the world did he manage to keep his composure so well while the children hurled nasty remarks at him.
There was one particular black boy who kept adding oil to fire. Whenever someone else did a disruptive behavior, he would either agitate them further or support them when they retorted at Mr B for making them behave. It was downright annoying and I took an instant dislike towards him. Once he kept interrupting me, I even told him harshly that I didn't want another word from him. But it was then I realized that hey, that doesn't make him a better person. So I sat next to him and started talking with him. I told him he was a good boy, and immediately, he replied, " no, I am not". I told him deep down he was and asked him why he was behaving like that. And to my surprise, he began telling me how he used to get good grades but did badly when Mr B graded his work. And he starting comparing other teachers and how good and fun they were unlike Mr B. I felt sympathetic as I know that feeling when you know you've landed a bad teacher. But being professional, I avoided being politically incorrect and gave him a different perspective on how it wasn't easy for Mr B when all his friends weren't giving him a chance to speak. Believe it or not, that boy's expression began to soften and his attitude was completely different for the rest of the lesson after talking. It's quite true that kids are who you make them out to be. It's always a self-fulfilling prophecy that I'll have to constantly remind myself. For now, I'm just glad I did what I did. It's little things like that makes me feel human.
Last tuesday's math class was a horror. I entered the classroom and children were shouting back at their teacher, Mr B. I was pretty surprised as I have worked with that teacher in a different class before and he was good, in my opinion. At least better than Mr moyo from another class who tried too hard to be a friend with his kids. There was this girl who absolutely had no fear. She told the teacher it was rude to point and that he can't teach and that he was wasting her education. I have never seen a girl her age with such a brazen attitude before. The class size was under 20 but it seemed like hell was about to break loose. Finally, Mr B asked me to call for reinforcement which helped calm things down a bit. I tried imagine myself in his shoes, and I wondered how in the world did he manage to keep his composure so well while the children hurled nasty remarks at him.
There was one particular black boy who kept adding oil to fire. Whenever someone else did a disruptive behavior, he would either agitate them further or support them when they retorted at Mr B for making them behave. It was downright annoying and I took an instant dislike towards him. Once he kept interrupting me, I even told him harshly that I didn't want another word from him. But it was then I realized that hey, that doesn't make him a better person. So I sat next to him and started talking with him. I told him he was a good boy, and immediately, he replied, " no, I am not". I told him deep down he was and asked him why he was behaving like that. And to my surprise, he began telling me how he used to get good grades but did badly when Mr B graded his work. And he starting comparing other teachers and how good and fun they were unlike Mr B. I felt sympathetic as I know that feeling when you know you've landed a bad teacher. But being professional, I avoided being politically incorrect and gave him a different perspective on how it wasn't easy for Mr B when all his friends weren't giving him a chance to speak. Believe it or not, that boy's expression began to soften and his attitude was completely different for the rest of the lesson after talking. It's quite true that kids are who you make them out to be. It's always a self-fulfilling prophecy that I'll have to constantly remind myself. For now, I'm just glad I did what I did. It's little things like that makes me feel human.