I have a new found respect for pre-school teachers.
Yesterday an international school coordinator called me to ask if i could be a subtitute teacher for 3 days. I decided to go for it cos i was quite bored of teaching “do-does”, “to be” and stuffs in the English institute. I thought to myself, how hard could it be teaching children?
I reached the school very early this morning and the school was “flooded” with kids… running and screaming everywhere… i met up with the coordinator and she asked me to take a class of pre-schoolers immediately. I was supposed to teach them english for 2 hours and I hadn’t even seen any of their materials.
I went to the class and i had 25 kids staring at me… they must be thinking “what is this tia (auntie) doing here?” I got them to line up for the bathroom (as i was told to do) and it was a nightmare. I had trouble controlling the class, my only wish was that i wont lose any kids along the way. When we came back to the class, i was pretty clueless about what i should do. So i made some feeble attempt to sing the song “if you are happy and you know it”. The kids were sporting though. They were pretty interested in me…. for 5 minutes and after that, i just lost them completely.
I started to initiate new color games and made them do some coloring… I think kids are universal cos they would come up to me and complain to me about their friends (seen this in singapore too). They started to get really rowdy. I thought of an ingenious idea… read them a story! How difficult can that be? I made them come forward and started to read to them the story of Tazan. From the corner of my eyes, i saw some boys started to push each other. I had to raise my voice and tried to gather everyone’s attention and after 10 minutes, i lost them again! I was looking at my watch constantly, wondering if my watch was spoilt! Well, the time stood still! To my horror, one of the kids “pee” on the chair! At the end of the class, the teacher told me that this was the best class in the school… i couldnt imagine what the rest of the day would be =P
After the class, i was rostered to be at the patio to make sure that the kids were safe. The boys were there playing “soccer”. There was a roof at the patio and i had no idea why but they loved to kick/throw the ball to the ceiling and over the fense as well. The poor security guard had to retrieve their ball numerous time. I just observed them and occassionally, picked up their flying footballs.
After that it was lunch time. Well, thank God i wasnt on duty so i could eat in peace and i must say that the food was good!
Then back to keeping watch of the kids at the playground and more lessons with them. I learnt that kids have very short attention span so i started to change activities every 10 mins until i ran out of ideas of what to do. In the end, i gave up and made them draw whatever they wanted. I must be their most boring teacher!
I have not felt so exhausted for a long time. I love playing with kids (few kids) but i didnt realise that it’s so difficult teaching them. I salute all the pre-school teachers out there… the patience and love you must possess…
Though it was pretty nerve racking, it was pretty enjoyable at the same time. For one, i love the teachers and helpers there. They are so friendly, helpful and i really think that God placed me there for a reason. Also, the children have taught me many precious lessons too. I tell you, some of them are just so adorable! you know, the latino kids and there were a number of korean & japanese kids… very very cute… The kids are very loving as well. They would come up to me and hug my legs (cos i m too tall for them =P) and they would say “tia, te quiero” (aunt, i love you).. very affectionate. For another, kids are very real. Whatever they experience or feel, you can read it on their faces. Also, kids are like sponge, they learn things really fast. For example, these kids picked up songs very fast and they could recall english words very well despite the fact that they dont speak english. Mould them well and they will go a long way!
oh well, at the end of the day, the coordinator asked me if i would consider working there full time.. hmm.. i think “thanks but no thanks”. I think i still prefer teaching adults… hehee…
Another day of pre-school teaching experience tomorrow. I hope i survive or rather the kids will survive me =)
kudos to all the pre-school and hopekids teachers out there! You shape our future generation =)
mi vida 