Observations – things that worked in the classroom

Keeping in mind that different people have different brains, I want to note right from the start that what works with one student may not work with another.  I found this out by trial and error.  Here, I’d like to share a few things that worked for me.

The biggest kick I got out of teaching in Hong Kong happened in a Form 3 classroom.  As with most of my early teaching days, this was a six-week project.  In this case, I had to teach phonics to different age groups.  On my first day in that particular room, a few of the students walked up to me, looked me over and then flipped their hair or other body parts at me before strutting away.  Then, a girl from the second row did the same thing.  She looked me up and down, sneered and flipped her hair at me before walking away.  I called her back and told her that she was now in third form and was no longer a baby.  In fact, she was already a young woman.  I said it was up to her how I treated her.  If she behaved like a little child, I would treat her like a little child.  But if she wanted me to treat her like a young woman, she would have to start acting like one.  By the end of the six weeks, she was my star student.  It was great watching her try her hardest to understand the lessons.  Even more satisfying was to hear two teachers talking about her, saying how she had changed and how she was paying more attention in class.  Sometimes, one simply needs to explain Life and present a reasonable challenge to turn a youngster around.

There was another project involving a group of Form 2 boys.  One of them sat at the back of the class looking around at everyone.  It soon became clear that he was a leader of sorts.  Unfortunately, it was a case of him leading a pack of wannabe trouble-makers.  I couldn’t pin anything on him because he didn’t actually do anything wrong that first day, but he was obviously enjoying the way a few others were trying to get me riled up and then looking to him for approval.  During my second lesson with them, I split them up into groups and appointed a leader for each, making him head of a group that included hard workers and trouble-makers.  I guess it was the recognition of his leadership ability that did the trick, because he made sure everyone in his group did the work.  The rest of the time I was there, he made sure that all the boys kept quiet and paid attention.  Occasionally, that meant him standing up and shouting at someone.  However, that’s the kind of disruption that I welcome, so I let him be.  At the end of the course, he told me that I was the best teacher he’d had.  In his case, I was lucky that I was able to identify his need and give him what he wanted.

One challenge I faced was a Primary 6 student who wanted everyone to know how good he was at story-telling.  I was teaching a writing course and was talking about mind maps when he abruptly stood up and asked if he could read out a poem he’d just written.  I had to decline because it was not part of what they had to learn that day, but I promised him I would give him time during the next lesson.  Before class was over, I asked everyone to write something that they wanted to share and said I would call up a few of them to read out what they’d written.  At the start of the next lesson, I asked who wanted to stand before the class and share their work.  Of course, “Poet” had his hand up right away, so I let him start.  Only one other boy volunteered to share his story, so he went next.  There was one girl, though, sitting up front, who looked like she wanted to speak but was unsure if she should put her hand up, so I asked her if she’d like to read what she’d written.  She did.  The rest of that lesson went to plan, and I had a happy bunch of boys and girls by the time the project came to an end weeks later.  “Poet” posed what was really a simple challenge.  He wanted to be noticed, so giving him a few minutes to show off to his classmates was all he needed. 

I was fortunate to teach in a number of different classrooms with age groups ranging from Primary 3 to Form 6.  The experience taught me about different types of students with different needs and circumstances, situations that challenged me to come up with appropriate solutions.  I believe that each child who touched my life has made me a better person and a better teacher.