Hi Teachers and Learners,

With one more day to go to start the new year 2017, let’s take a look back to 2016. Whether it’s been joy or tears or a mix of both for you, I hope that you have had a chance to take a moment to appreciate the effort you have put in the entire year. While there might be things that we weren’t happy about, things that we said we were gonna do but we didn’t, or things that we simply tried to run away from, it is important for us to take a break and look back to the things we’ve learned and how we have grown as individuals.

I believe as we write them down , we become more aware of our growth and be more definite about where we want to go from here.

In this post, I’d like to look back my role as a teacher and what I’ve learned from my experience in 2016.

Let’s roll!

1. Their grades don’t determine my success.

In Malaysia, grades almost mean everything. Because that’s how people judge us. Because we think we need to satisfy the needs of our ‘clients’. Because we need some sort of ‘goal’ to keep us pushing. Because we also think that only with great results our learners can escape from the fate of living in a mud house. You know, the list can go on. And for whatever reasons you might have. I’m not saying you’re wrong. I do the same too. Especially after many years of gritting and grinding, sometimes we switch off our ‘feelings’ button. We do our job. Our bosses want results. Great. I create results.

But this year I took it with an open heart and was able to see that learners’ grades do not always determine a teacher’s success, sometimes it has nothing to do with it.

Compared to previous year’s percentage climb, this year my PT3 percentage went down by I don’t know, almost 7%? I was given more classes with more weaker learners. And my bosses were probably expecting the numbers to go up.  I was a little worried at the beginning but I took a moment to reflect on the whole year. Thinking back: 1. I’ve worked real hard to help the kids. 2. They have improved tremendously over the past 11 months . 3. I thought I did better than my previous year. I was more in control. I was more sure of what to expect from my learners. I felt a better flow this year than last year. I gave all I had. And I had nothing to feel sorry about. Do I think I’ve succeeded this year? Oh yea, quality shot up this year and you know what made me most proud of? I had more learners getting more interested in English. They aren’t afraid of me speaking English to them anymore. They texted me thank you in English. They are cool with watching movie orang putih without Malay subtitle. That, my dear, beats every number you can ever mention!

What about you? What’s your success story this year?

2. Look for the little progresses and celebrate them.

One day I was on a conversation with a friend and this friend said to me that I was being too harsh on myself and I couldn’t see the little happy things in life. It hit me right in the face and I found that so true. I started to apply that in my teaching.  When I saw small progresses from my learners I told them right away. When I couldn’t see one, I made sure I found one. It may be that they finally wore socks to school,  brought their books to school, or write a perfect sentence. Sometimes I made sure I was loud enough that the whole class can hear my praises. It worked like magic.

Praise the little monsters in your class for the little things they do, their will eventually share their cookies with you. One thing I did realise this year was that I almost didn’t have to shout in the class. When I hit my limit, I’ve learnt that I could do something else (no.4).

3. Pilot whiteboard markers aren’t the best investment you can make.

Don’t get me wrong, these are probably the best whiteboard markers I’ve used. It’s really smooth when writing and great colours on the board too. But gosh it runs out fast, and the refills aren’t cheap as well.  For a year long of supply, it’s a bit too much for me.

What do you think?

4.  Be transparent and honest with your learners.

This year I gave up acting like I was perfect in front of my learners. It worked surprisingly good. I was able to have better relationships with them and it was way easier on my side. When I felt tired, I told them about how I felt. When I felt like I needed a 5 min break to sit down, I asked for their permission. When I was not happy with their performance, I told them exactly what’s in my mind and why I thought they should work harder or put in more effort. When my materials/notes had mistakes, I admitted it and apologised. When it came to tackling the examinations, I didn’t just tell them to study hard, I showed them how the papers were made, where most teachers would source their materials, how teachers would mark them, what are the sentences that could give them bonus marks.

Tell them exactly what and how it is done. Show them as real as you can. I don’t understand why some teachers don’t do this and deem this non-important. With how google and YouTube work these days, there’s nothing for us to hide. And you know what I learned from this, those kids love it when we show them the real world.

5. I work better when my table has nothing on it. 

Clean table clearer mind.

 

6. Learners notice your effort.

When a salesperson approaches you, you can sense if they just want you to buy their stuff or they at least care about what you need. It’s the same for us. Believe this or not, As I finished typing this little title, I got a text from a learner and she’d typed a long message to thank me for the work we’ve done this year and how she’d improved over the months.

This year, one of the biggest aha-moments is to learn to accept that individuals learn VERY differently. Sometimes it may seem like no body is listening to you, but as you persist you will find that they remember the things you said to them. Trust that at the end of the day, your effort is worth it. But of course at times when they seem to all understand and look attentive. be prepared they are plain good actors. =p

All right guys, those are my 6 takeaways from 2016. What are yours? Feel free to comment below and follow us on Facebook.

See you when school reopens!

Happy Teaching Happy Learning!

Grace.