Saturday 13 December 2014

With or Without the Class President

My first week at school was never that interesting nor exciting because my advisory class literally gave me headache, toothache, and stomachache. They were this kind of students who fail to greet “good morning” or say hello whenever they enter the room, who never throw their garbage in the bin, who text in front of you while in class, and who ignore you as if you are talking to the air. In the first three months, I adjusted on how they speak bad words, how they don’t recognize cleanliness, and how submission of homework is really a burden to them. I can even recall the time when one of them spoke a bad word out behind me as I scolded him for not cleaning the room. I might have just misinterpreted it, but he really did it. I cannot also count the times I did not allow them to enter the room and clean it by myself instead, just to show them that cleanliness is my best friend. Not wearing the uniform, being late, wearing of earrings and long hair (for boys) and other misbehavior are just few of the issues I have struggled on with my beautiful and handsome students. Here, I transformed from being a sweet master to a terrible monster.

However, I save a room for hope and aspiration that these little creatures will one day change into big, useful ones and that they will realize how goodness and obedience result to success in the future.

With that room, I locked the following keys to win their humane nature:
1.       writing unfriendly reminders on the board almost everyday;
2.       imposing consequences to those who come late and speak bad words;
3.       never allowing students to get inside the class if they are fifteen-minute late;
4.       knocking the chairs down on the floor if they leave the classroom disarranged;
5.       sweeping the floor on my own as an insult to their beautiful faces;
6.       throwing out their books and shoes if they forget to bring them home;
7.       and other monstrous acts.

However, I also tried this good side of a monster:
8.       praising and writing encouragement every time they do good;
9.       doing casual conversation with them during lunch time;
10.   befriending them on Facebook and allowing them to like and comment on my pictures as if we are close friends;
11.   giving them biscuits after general cleaning;
12.   and other angelic acts.

I haven’t proven to myself the total change I want to see in them, yet . However, I am happy to hear good feedback about them and to see that:
1.       they are solving math problems seriously now;
2.       they all do the general cleaning without any further complaints;
3.       they reprimand each other about speaking life instead of evil;
4.       they, somehow, arrange their chairs before leaving;
5.       and other diligent acts.


We are not perfect creatures, but we can be good, productive ones. It starts with individual realization that doing good is worth an incentive to one’s self.  After that three months of struggling, I am now enjoying the company of Grade 9- Honesty especially that many of them now have come to discover their own identities that help them realized they have important roles in the classroom.  I am not a perfect teacher and I don’t have perfect advisory class. Yet, I want a perfect environment for a better future and I am surely achieving that as Chloie, our Miss Marymount 2014, surprisingly suggested that we will all wear dress this Wednesday and as they showed me last Thursday that they know how to clean with or without the class president.