Teacher

A teacher is never an easy role to play.
Then again, it is the same for a HR manager, barista, lifeguard, chef...
But this commentary is about the Teacher/ Tutor/ Educator/ Nanny/ Adviser, so off with the other people at the moment.
It is not Teachers' Day or any special occasion commemorating those no-good-inhuman-homework-piling machines who get up at 5 or 6 in the morning for work and carry on marking endless paper mountains till late in the night.
I just want to share what's it like being one. I should know.

I've worked as a relief teacher in a learning centre for the mid-term vacation, having had to prepare materials to occupy their wasted childhood time and bring them li'l punks and princesses on excursion trips to the Zoo and Nature Reserve, played hide-and-seek and direct-act Big Bad Wolf with them, had them wowing while this teacher went into her 203rd jump rope turn, sent boys out of class for mucking around in class...and i can continue with the activities' list barfing if you meet me. PHEW! Exhausting? Yeah and no.

It helps that i am quite childlike and am a bouncin' ball of energy.
But, kids ARE kids, remember that, and like a bunch of chopsticks that would be very hard to break altogether, when they combine forces, they can sure tire the livewire in anybody. I've locked the door to the office during break times to get a little privacy- that's all you're going to get with a waist-up glass window separating the little tykes from you- because a handful of rascals are bold enough to just walk right in and start yelling away who just took their ball/ hit someone's little toe/ which girl is crying... -_-
So, i taught them to 'KNOCK, GET PERMISSION TO ENTER, THEN COME IN', and that sign was hung on the knob. It worked. For a while.
Every few minutes, an accident/ a report comes knocking, while i am catching my breath inside or enhancing my recreational life online, no such thing as a recess for the teacher, mate.
Excursions to the Great Outdoors are great breeding ground for things to happen, when things happen that involve children, it may involve blood and tears, whining and/ or grumbling. Beautiful, that's where the Nanny comes in. Pass the first aid box!

A one-on-one tutor is meant for the people with more drive for life, really, all the child wants to do is sleep or play after a long and hard day at school which is really work for them, not fun education.To engage him/ her, you must have stories to share and be willing to let the kid in on your life, a little drama won't hurt to get their attention. It works with mine. Be merciful. School teachers give them enough homework to destroy their childhood, so don't go piling up their workload. Also, honestly, no matter how much the kid enjoys your teaching style and stories, when it comes to work, he/ she rather you leave soon, don't bother with extension of tuition hours, the young one just won't quite appreciate it.

Group tuition is something i just got started on, already i see flaws in the system. Before which, i did think this was not the best way of helping a child as every single body has their own style/ pace of learning.
Nevertheless, i tried my best. My first lesson feedback: "The other teacher around, time pass very slowly, but time pass fast, for you."
The one i didn't quite like was: "the other teacher bought us drinks from nearby"
Talk about subtle hinting.
It's another two students after the first and they are all there for help in different subjects, and i had to collect fees, which makes it all very confusing for me at first, the overlapping of students/ subjects because i wasn't done with the earlier lot. Well, the kinks would be ironed out soon i hope.

I learnt...
even at a young schooling age, teaching is no mean feat. But you'd never, truly understand the pains until you become one.
Of course, like everything else, there are the negatives, and positives.
You got to be liked, then the student will listen to you and then understand what you are teaching. Ironically, you could be really loathed, but the kid being forced to listen, realises your teaching style is working for him and he does well and begins to take a liking to you. It's all very complicated yet simple to be a teacher.
A genuine person (children can sense this very well), with the right energy, driven to motivate and educate and enhance children's learning, is well on his/ her way to a good relationship with her young charge.


Would someone with B+ type blood type come forward to save a person with cancer? A friend's friend's cousin needs a platelet donor.