Practicum Week 6

Tomorrow I'll be entering the 6th week of practicum. Right now the bug of demotivation has hit me and I don't really feel like doing anything but listen to music and blog. Sometimes I wonder if these moments hit me because I've been depriving myself of the simple pleasures of life simply due to my crazy schedule. Like birth cravings, yannoe, the mother's body recognizes a deficiency of some vitamin or something and WANTS IT.

Those musings aside, I feel like after I hit the fifth week of practicum, I started getting a handle on my pupils. They know me better now, and I definitely know them better. I'm tougher on them in terms of discipline nowadays, but there is a bond of affection between me and most of them. It's still difficult to motivate them to learn (well, they've been in the last class for some 3 years or so, it's kinda hard to unlearn unhealthy attitudes), but at least now I know what they like doing and I try to let them enjoy themselves even if my lesson objectives do not explicitly say so. After taking a look at last year's Year 2 exam paper, I felt that my pupils wouldn't be able to score no matter what I do, so I've given up on rushing through the syllabus. There ARE some good pupils (from other schools), and I hope they'll learn on their own, but I have to cater to the majority. And then there are those who can't even read...*Sigh* I really don't know what to do with them. To make them sit and copy basic sight words while their friends are having fun doing other activities just seems...cruel. But that's what they really need. And I'm only one teacher in a class of 39 - I can only do so much. I guess it's the same everywhere - not every pupil will want to learn, and I can't blame myself for their lack of motivation, or the level where they started, or their genes, if they're slow learners. One thing that makes it all worth it - my pupils actually like me. Especially the remedial ones, for some reason even I don't know ('cause they definitely can't read).

Practicum aside, I'm pretty excited about getting married in a year's time. I'm excited about making this commitment to be with Jia Wern for the rest of my life, and putting an end to this long distance relationship. It's a wonderful feeling knowing that you'll be able to grow in intimacy and spend your lifetime in companionship with your best friend.

=D

It's like, we're a team now.

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