Week 4

It's been an up and down roller-coaster teaching 5P class over these four weeks. In these weeks, i had shared happy moments with my kids, and they too had shared happy moments with me. At times, we laughed, but most of the time, we concentrate in what we are doing.

But kids will always remain as kids, they like to test you, they like to get your attention, they fail to bring books to class, and not forgetting they fail to complete their homework. That's why i am put to these kids, to remind them, to scold them, and to be firm with them everytime they did something undesirable.

The fourth week has been a busy week for me. The first thing i walked into the staff room early last Monday morning, i was told to attend relieve classes. Not long after, my supervisor from IPBA messaged and said she wanted to observe our elective classroom this week. As my elective class fall on that particular Monday only (two lessons of elective in a week), this means i had to arrange another day with other teachers for my supervisor.

Thinking that everything will be alright after that, another notice came. This time, my supervisor Pn Nazirah came over to me that told me that she wanted to observe me on this Wednesday. God, so many things to prepare for this week.

But everything went on smoothly at the end of each day. Smoothly doesn't mean no problem. Instead, it means having to overcome every problem with great perseverance and patience. and i thank God for that.

As next week (which is this week) all of us will be back in IPBA for debriefing sessions, this means i will not have time doing revision with my kids who will be taking the July Monthly Test in another 2 weeks time.

Hence, i attempted to make this week a week of revision and practice. Come to think of it, it's not really of revision and practice as my kids do not know anything or are weak in Simple Present Tense. Mind you, Simple Present Tense is one of the most difficult tenses to teach. Think about it and you'll understand what i mean.

In some ways, teaching Simple Present Tense correlates with Subject-Verb agreement (SVA). Students need to learn how a sentence is formed before learning about SVA. So, there i was giving them a lot of input about how a sentence is formed.

The process of teaching them this concept is not easy as English is such a complicated language. As far as they learn to recognize and identify the correct answers, sometimes they can easily forget what they've learn. So, behaviourist theory comes in. Practice after practice. Exercise after exercise. Man, last Wednesday, i actually used four periods (taking relieve class) to teach them about SVA.

Reflecting on this week, i found that my kids are slowly getting more interested in learning the language. How i know? Simply by looking at their response and reaction when asked them questions. They were more eager to talk now.

Yet, i have to keep myself reminded always that this is a language lesson. A language lesson means speaking complete sentences, i.e. he is singing, and not singing. Though their sentence may be incorrect, but who cares. It's the effort that matters.

It requires a lot of bravery and effort for weak students to actually speak up in class. And if they do, why not appreciate it.

Reflecting on my lesson plan, there are still rooms for improvement. Talking with my supervisors and my cooperative teacher made me realized that my lesson lacks of engaging activities and materials.

I admit it is my fault to be so lazy to go and search for more activities and materials. But, in order to teach this kids effectively, i need to come out with a lot of interesting materials and activities.

With the Monthly test coming up, i don't know how my students will perform. I should have been in school this week teaching them something, but time doesn't allow.

I can only hope that my kids will practise what i've taught them the ways of learning English. And with hope, they will show some improvement.

Way to go, Mr Ling.