The Teaching Experiment

I wanted to have a blog to share my thoughts on teaching and classroom management strategies. This is especially since there aren't many teacher blogs that focus on the Asian context of teaching, learning and managing a classroom.

I've just had an extremely challenging, but rewarding 4 months into teaching in a Singapore Primary classroom (I now teach 10 and 11 year olds). In so many ways, when I'm in my class, I feel like I'm in a special experimental bubble where I have to try (many times by trial and error) to engage all 40 of my kids through various ways and to ensure that learning takes place, answer all their questions, teach them right from wrong etc.

Before I embarked on teaching, I never realised how many challenges there are involved in a Primary classroom. I had always loved school, and it was never hard for me to want to learn.

One big struggle I face is in teaching my kids (yes I have now taken to calling them my kids in a rather possessive way) why it's wrong to take revenge on your friends, to deceive your teacher, to steal and extort money and to fall asleep in class (among many other things). So yes, it is of IMMENSE interest to me how young children process morality. It doesn't seem good enough to just tell them off, especially in the Asian way, "It's WRONG. How could you be so SELFISH/LAZY/other negative adjectives."

The thing is, these kids probably didn't realise they were being selfish/lazy/other negative adjectives. Or if they did, they probably don't realise the effect of being so. Or sadly, even if they do understand the effects and consequences, don't care quite enough.

It would be really interesting to better understand the way the naughtiest kids think and then get around their naughty behaviour by addressing the root of the problem.

The academic year is coming to an end for my kids but I'll be studying this issue of teaching them right from wrong. Also going to be trying out more classroom management and teaching strategies and reviewing them here! =)