Reasons to Laugh

It's been so long since I've written, but I haven't forgotten this blog! This year has been especially hectic teaching the first class of 9 year olds, since they're all so unusually precocious. In the spirit of Teacher's Day, and having more time to muse about and be amused by my students, I'd like to share about why school is so much fun for me. 

Here are some of the top moments of school with my 8-9 year olds. There are too many, so there will have to be a part 2. 

Number 5: Rhymes

I taught my kids about poetry a couple of months ago, and how we usually use rhyming words. So I challenged them to write their own poem, and make them rhyme. Ten minutes into the activity, excitement had evolved into belligerence. A tiny boy with humongous eyes and a crew cut was glaring in the direction of an equally pint-sized girl who was also throwing daggers at him. 

Girl: HEY! Stop making fun of my name! 

Boy: I'm not! I'm telling you what someone else said about your last name. 

They called you Marina Bay Sands. (Her last name was Bay.)

Girl: YEAH. Stop it or I'm going to tell Miss Tan! 

Boy: Why are you so mean?! I didn't even say anything when you called me Lucas the Mucus. 

As you can imagine, it was really hard for me to keep a straight face as I emphasised the importance of respecting each other. 

Number 4: Philosophical musings

The kids have to reflect upon their learning after every Science chapter. This one was on Fungi and Bacteria. Clearly this kid was in a philosophical mood. 

Number 3: Advice

This particularly precocious girl in my class who has a really adult way of speaking approached me with a complaint letter. It was about two girls who made fun of her favourite cake. The last line really made me laugh. 

Number 2: Being schooled again

During one of the snack times, I was sitting at the teacher's table in class while my students were taking advantage of the 15 minute break to catch up with whatever breaking social news had happened in the last half an hour. 

Suddenly, I felt someone staring at me from the side of my table. I glanced to my right to see the tiny boy with humongous eyes and a crew cut (see Number 5: Rhymes) looking at me with hopeful eyes. 

Boy: Miss Tan…can I tell you something?" (He was so excited he was all breathy and couldn't stop fidgeting)

Me: Yes, what is it? 

Boy: Do you know this thing called…gravity? (It took him awhile to pronounce the word)

Me: Yes.

Boy: Do you know why even though there is gravity on Earth, the moon doesn't crash onto Earth? 

(At this point, I thought he was trying to tell me a joke, because the kids love telling me random funny things. So I asked him why.

He took a deep breath before launching into his little speech.) 

Boy: BECAUSE, right, there is this thing called CEN-TREE-FOO-GAL force. So, right, it, like, keeps trying to go straight (At this point, he whips out a very dirty, tiny ball of blutack and a string and starts illustrating his point.), but the gravity from the Earth is, like, trying to pull it back. But it doesn't ever crash into the Earth, but it just REE-VOLVES around it. 

Random kid at the back: MISS TAN, IS HE TELLING YOU ABOUT CENTIPEDE FORCE?! 

Number 1: Infidelity

I don't know what this kid has been watching at home. 

That's it for now. Teaching these kids is very challenging, but they always keep me on my toes and entertained. =) 

New Year, New Term: First Impressions

So it's back to school after a nice long 3 week break away. I'm now back with a completely new class. This bunch of students are quite a lot different from my kids last year. For one, they are all in the first class and they're in Primary 3 (9 year olds), which means they've just graduated from a lot of hand-holding in Primary 2. 

Now that I've had 6 months of qualified teaching under my belt, I thought I kinda got the hang of it. I was right and wrong at the same time. 

Last year, my kids were really quite passive and were very effectively conditioned to just be well-behaved. Plus they were also in Primary 4, so they had a year's worth inculcation of sky-high expectations on how to be good by their previous teacher. This lot, on the other hand, are a lot more opinionated and because they're really quite bright, give me a lot of suggestions and thoughts. Sometimes they're really good ("Miss Tan, why don't you appoint two people to help you carry your books? Our teacher did that last year." What a great idea! Thank you!) and sometimes, they're just plain funny ("Miss Tan, I don't think you should kill the ants on the floor…my aunty is a Buddhist. She says it's evil to kill things. We should love all living things."  I didn't know how to respond to that). 

All in all, they're really sweet and I think my classroom management skills are somewhat transferable to this bunch. Also, because they're the first class, I expected no trouble from them. I was wrong.  There's this one particular girl in my class who seems to really hate me. 

I was actually quite taken aback when I told her off one day in front of the class and what I got in return was a venomous glare, rolling of eyes and furious muttering under her breath. This has happened a few times mainly because she has consistently refused to complete her work in the stipulated time and instead, spends time doodling and writing letters. So I dished out the old, tried and tested 'warnings and consequences' trick, where I would give her 3 warnings and if she still didn't comply I'd have to tell her off (consequences). After which, I pulled her aside and explained nicely why she had to complete her work in time etc. You can imagine what I got back in return. A sullen glare. 

It's been a real bee in my bonnet because I cannot, for the life of me, understand why she displays such vitriolic behaviour towards me. Coincidentally, she's a third of a triplet and her sister is also in my class, but is the exact opposite. I called her mum today, after receiving a note from her to call her, and found out a few things that this girl said to her: 

She doesn't like school because: 

1) She thinks I hate her. (That really hit me in the gut.)

2) She doesn't have many friends in this new class. 

3) She feels stressed out that she's in a 'smart' class and won't get a chance to lead.

4) She feels stressed that her younger sister seems to be doing better than her, and bossing her around.

Also, she appears to have 'Middle child syndrome', where she feels inferior to her other siblings. Since all 3 are pretty bright, you can imagine what a competitive household it must be. Thus, my pointing her out in class really must have embarrassed her and coupled with all these extraneous factors, such as family background and disposition, caused her to react this way. I guess, at the end of the day, she wasn't really trying to be rude to me. It was just her coping mechanism for dealing with stress and embarrassment. 

I should have seen that coming - I actually felt really bad that I hadn't managed to figure this kid out and help make her first week in school better. All that Social and Developmental Psychology study about birth order and class dynamics is starting to make sense now that I'm seeing it in action. Time to change tactics with this kid, looks like this class is going to be a little bit more complicated than I thought it would be. So now that I understand the root of this problem, I'll try to give her more leadership roles, have a chat with her about what I can do to make her feel more comfortable, and give her more chance to interact with her old friends so that she can ease into this new class. Also, I'll stop singling her out when she's not fully complying with my instructions - I'll have to choose my battles more carefully. 

Next entry, I'll put up some pictures of my kids' work on adjectives and talk about the 'Yarning' game that I played with them to bond the class together.