GREEN LIGHTS AHEAD

I saw a colleague on his blogger and it reminded me to update mine. Since the last time I wrote, Andy and I signed to buy our first home. As most first homes, it is far from where we want to be but it is affordable. In fact, nothing makes me more proud about the house than the fact that we are taking such a minimal loan, almost unheard of in Singapore.

You see, we will own our apartment in less than three years. To own any property in Singapore is a hard-sought affair. But thanks to Andy’s hard work and patience… we will be debt-free and mission-ready by the time my tenure at this school is over. Hallelujah!

We are a 5 -10 minute stroll to romantic walks after dinner at the park and reservoir and 15 minutes to the expressway into the city. The previous owners did a great job of upkeep so we have minimal renovations to do. And I do love the layout with full-length living windows looking out to tree-top levels.

We got it at a good price really…. And it will be ours right after the wedding. Speaking of which, I got my leave approved and its all green lights for Andy to go ahead to book our honeymoon to a surprise destination!

Bingo! Lecture Bingo!

One of the things I want to see this blog grow into is a journal and sharing space as a teacher of things that have worked for me. The education industry calls it all sorts of names, most familiarily, "Teaching/Learning Strategies".

Now, a really good thing about the school that I teach in, is that it is experimental and very willing to allow teacher-level action research in trying 'new' teaching strategies in the classroom. 'New' because for some in this little island, they may never have had the privilege or opportunity to try them. But they may not be all that new globally. In that respect, the things I have learnt on campus in the last year have been of some good to me.

Week 4 and I have been able to try at least one strategy a week, if not across levels, in all the classes I teach. To be honest, I'm still not sure how much 'teaching' I've done that has been 'learnt'. I think I have been doing a lot of learning-based activities, but I can't be guaranteed how much learning went in.

I mean to say in this post that Lecture Bingo was one of my successes this week. Unlike most of the other lessons (activity-based), I had to teach my class of middle-of-the-road 9th-graders a variety of persuasive devices for use in expository texts. I couldn't trust them to review the notes on their own like I did for a high-ability class, so I had to present it to them.

This was going to prove difficult because they are a chatty and not-highly-motivated lot. The incentive, I had hoped, is that this term's teaching and learning assessments will be equally distributed through a comprehension test (BO-ring!), a written expository piece (BOR-ing!) and through intra & inter-class debates across the level (A-HA!) So, it would be good for them to be familiar with oratory skills.

So off we go, I prepared my slides, then I prepared a vareity of grid sheets with different permutations of keyword placements, all carefully deviced so that only ONE sheet would get four-in-a-row. I can't believe how into it the kids got! Their attention was on the screen and at least reading as I spoke, crossing out the keywords that I highlighted to them during the course of the lesson. You could hear how eager they were, "I only need one more! and I've got three chances! Shhhush! Let's go on!"

I'm still on sure if or how they internalized learning but it works to keep their attention on the presentation!

ANOTHER PIECE OF PAPER

As I sat in the auditorium this morning, waiting for the roll t o call my name so I could walk up to get my scroll, I deliberated a little longer on a brief thought that crossed my mind.

"Oh my goodness, I have yet another piece of paper". I found myself gloating on how much I had achieved and with what ease it had come to me. I looked through the roll call and realized that a few names in my class were spread through the different types of recognition given and then I caught myself thinking, "it came so easy, I should've put in more effort so I might be higher up the honour list". I thought about all I had achieved in the last year, if the effort was worth it and what I did with the rest of my life in the past year (but only so briefly).

I'm not sure that I have very much to show for the remaining energies that I had spent last year. I have a few friends more - at least made one new friend a month so I think I am not so stagnant - but I don't have tangible results. I cannot say how I have been a positive influence on those lives that i have had an opportunity to cross with.

And then I heaved a sigh because I once again caught myself thinking in such worldly terms. In one of those brief moments, I actually thought I ought to pursue an even higher degree. I was considering what I have done in comparison with others as opposed to recognizing and reminding myself why I did it in the first place.

There was an article in the papers a few days ago, reporting how even in the first world countries, many people were over-qualified. How can I be overqualified if my peers and superiors keep talking about this incessant paper chase? I guess, if this comfortable society is all that I will live for then perhaps I may still reserve potential for even further qualifications.

I felt in Japan, Thailand, Myanmar, Indonesia, that I had little to offer them from my years of studies and what I could and what was most useful had little to do with what I had spent years pursuing. Even now, teaching, when I encounter a recalcitrant child, I still find myself at a loss for the words to tell about the things that really matter, about the values that are most important to us in life and about loving and hurting others. I know these, but I lack the words for them and sometimes, even the actions to accompany them. I remember having breakfast in Living Waters Mission and looking out to see the men mixing cement so that they could get to work to building new houses for the children and thinking to myself, "even if I had the strength, nothing I know would enable me to mix cement". I can get myself a Masters in Curriculum Planning but that would make little difference to what I could offer if I went now with what I knew and simply offered them my willingness.

I don't need higher qualifications, I really need to know people better, how I can get to a place to understand their worldview. I was sharing with a friend over lunch how I have learnt so much, I can go into the classroom with facts and knowledge - some of them the kids already know and then my role is simply to direct their energies - but have little to teach.

WEEK 3

It's already week 3 of the school term and an update is due on how school has been good and the youth that I work with are teachable. Some are real privilege to be teaching.

Today however, I came down really hard and stern on my seventh-graders (13-year olds). I kept half of them out of class for half the english period (while I was going through boring admin stuff) for not bringing their English folders to class. I didn't want to do that yet but after three weeks, I thought it would be a good idea to follow through on my expectations. So, I had to go through with the discipline.

We did tableax in class and I got them to rejoin the rest of their classmates. The kids got a little rowdy with one particular boy who kept constantly yabbering at the back. He already had got into a spat with his group members on who should be the group leader and so I was short on my leash with him and told him to leave the room. At which point, at least five to six other students showed their enthusiasm for his punishment - I've figured they don't like him much - so I sent one of the gang leaders out with him. We went on with class and I dismissed them both sternly after I let the class out.

Now I regret doing that since I was unable to really address the issue - one kid was disrespectful of my class and the other disrespectful of his classmate. I got an apology from both of them but I can't help but think all they learnt from that was not to be talking in class and not to be caught jeering others, which is totally missing the point that jeering is not a loving way to treat others.

I shall have to talk to them about it on friday, but if there's one thing I've realized, is that I have problems talking out things to young people. I may be okay at teaching them tangible knowledge stuff but don't know how to put across ideas and social-emotional thoughts to them. "You shouldn't do it because it is wrong and unloving" doesn't seem to be all there is to getting the message across.

I also have a boisterous 9th-grade class. They are by far angels compared to Ghetto school but I am challenged in getting them to do work. They are low in motivation and high in apathy and ennui, slow to do work, late to submit. The class can be chatty amongst themselves on their own topics (boys or soccer) and lack some appropriate respect and classroom behavior (not talking while instructions are given). This is to the point that one boy, has begun to shout loudly at the top of his voice "SHUT UP CLASS!!!!" in order to get the class to quieten down so I can talk. While this is useful, it does nothing for my classroom authority. Mental note to speak to him after school on monday.

There's another boy who has exhibited good behavior but regularly comes to me to ask for silly requests like if he can be allowed to have candy in class and if the group can change names. These are things I don't really mind or care about as long as the students are on task, however it could also spiral out into a problem. After persistent questions from him today, I said, "No, I said no. Go away." I even did the hand-motion to go with it. I wish I hadn't been so abrupt with him especially since this was the second time.

All that said, the kids I have are really a joy. They are a bundle but a bundle of joy. I have got it good this semester. I think I appreciate them more after what I saw at Ghetto, but apparently, if you saw my behavior toward them, you might not think the same way.

ARGH.