Tuesday, 29 September 2009

My conversation with the class today....
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Me: 1st Oct is Children's Day. I am not going to buy you all any present.
Class: HUH?!?!?!?!?!
Me: BUT I will be buying you all a treat tomorrow.
Class (shouting from all corners of the room): Bubble Tea! Mac! Pizza!
Me: We have 2 options and we shall vote and go with the majority k. One option is KFC. The other option is pizza.
Class (whisperings in the background): KFC... very oily leh... Pizza... which one will you be buying?
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After the voting, we settled on KFC and the class got into another uproar again.
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Class: I want popcorn chicken! I want large size popcorn chicken!! Normal fries or cheese fries? I want cheese fries!!!!
Me (my intention was to buy the combo meal, not individual meals): I am buying a combo meal to share. WE will share the meal k. The 'WE' includes me k.
Class: ........................ (in split second of silence before some of them gave me a look which says.... we? already not enough to eat still must share with you?)
Me: Each of us will get a piece of chicken and we will share the popcorn chicken and fries.
Class (in disappointment): HUH?!?! A piece of chicken? One piece of chicken only?! One piece only?!?!
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I am soooooooooooooooooooooooo disappointed with their reactions. Even before the conversation, I have explained to them that I am not obligated to get them anything for Children's Day but still... I am giving them a treat. Yet, they are not appreciative of my kind gesture. First, they despise the treat. Then they despise the ONE piece of chicken. I mean... Not even all of them gave me something on Teacher's Day or even nice enough to wish me 'Happy Teacher's Day'. Yet, I cannot be petty with them over this. I tried explaining to them my kind gesture and we should not be so calculative... blah blah blah... to the extent that I told them if we have to so calculative, then only those who gave me something on Teacher's Day shall share the entire meal. Did that get into their head somehow? I don't think so. Seriously, I am disappointed with their reaction. :(
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Out of the 3 classes I took over the 2 years, I took a longer time to know them. The 1st class I took was relatively easy. I was new and Linda helped me along with the rules etc etc etc. Thus, I was a strict teacher. That class was difficult but we managed to click quickly. Time played an important part. I only taught them for 2 months before it was holidays and we spent the remaining days playing dog-and-bone every single day, every single break. FUN!!!
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The 2nd class was a relatively quieter and easier to manage class. The boys were such cuties back then though I had some problems communicating with some of the girls. They were so aloof. Since I was pregnant, I was pretty lenient with them. They were cooperative by being quiet. They were the quietest class around. Serious! You can hardly hear us. They just loved to do their homework quietly, chit chat in one corner quietly. They hated competitive games, hated dog-and-bone. Throughout the year, we only had one physical game - Paper Ball Fight and that happened only after numerous pleas from me to do something more "exciting".
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As for this current class, I only took over in March. We did not have an easy time cause we spent the 1st 3 months in a not so conducive environment. In that kind of environment, getting them to sit down was already an achievement. After a change in environment in July, we finally managed to sit down as a class and have some proper lessons. In the last 3 months, we finally managed to have some bonding as a class. I am no longer strict like I was with the 1st class. I try not to (really) scold them. The difference for this class... I really put in my love for them as a teacher and as a mother. If they ever do anything wrong, I try to explain to them first. Even if I ever scold, I will still explain the rationale to them after the scolding. Apparently, despite whatever love I have invested, no one has yet to see my love. I do not need them to say 'I love you, teacher'. I just want you children to grow up into fine adults with the minimum basic like manners. Can you believe it? I am drilling basic manners into them everyday. Manners... basic courtesy etc etc etc.
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I wonder what do children grow up on these days? How do they grow into such unappreciative and demanding beings? When I started the rewards system in July, I bought every single gift with my own money. Yet, you can hear complaints like 'wah... this thing buy from xxx shop one, cost ONLY a few dollars', 'why you buy this?', 'can buy us yoyo?' By the way, a cheap and yet up to their standard yoyo cost $20 odd. The really good ones cost $90 odd. Sigh... It is not the price of the present that is important. It is the thought that counts. Though each present costs only a few bucks, buying for 15 children every few weeks can set me back by a bit. Furthermore, I put in effort into searching and buying every single present, trying my best that each present is interesting in one way or another. Yet, they always prefer someone else's present or you can hear comments like 'Miss Angela, you still owe me my present'. OWE?????? No... I do not owe anyone any present. I initiated the rewards system out of my free will and using my own hard-earned money. Yes, hard-earned money. It is not that easy to teach children ah~ Yet, I never for once felt appreciated. Hardly anyone said 'Thank You' except the usual one or two. Sigh.... :(
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I guess I am REALLY very disappointed with them to the extent that I wrote such a long entry. Haha. Seriously, I do not ask for anything from them. I do not need gifts. I only want them to have basic manners and be appreciative of what others do for them, not just me alone.
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I must drill that into my own girl before she joined the new generation of kids.
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