(continued fromn previous post)

My next 2 classes (another sec one history class and a sec three CH class) were relatively well-behaved and respectful, so I was glad to take a breather after the exhausting first four periods. The last lesson of the day was Character Development with a sec 3 Normal Tech class, and I had zero lesson materials to fall back on. Nevertheless I went into class five minutes earlier and ended up waiting for another ten minutes before the first few students staggered in lazily. Upon seeing that I was a RT, alot of them stood up, 'Cher, need to go toilet.'. With their bags? Get real. Honestly, do they think that RTs are morons or what...so I happily made them leave their bags in class and deployed them to the loo one by one. HAH. 100 points to Pearlyn for keeping her guard up!

I gave them 2 options: (A) We talk about perseverance and exam preparation (as recommended by Ms Z) or (B) They do their own work quietly. No prizes for guessing which one they picked...but it was indeed a culture shock for me when I realised that during the 25-minute lesson, not a single student took out any work or did any revision; even the quietest girls merely sat in their groups and gabbed away! In DHS students would do their work without the teacher asking, and even when they were not supposed to be doing work some people would actually do it under their desks. Oh well, it's not a very fair comparison anyway. The class was fine, apart from a crew of cheeky boys who asked for my msn/friendster/handphone number/age, and some of them actually asked if I wanted to go steady. HAHAHAHAHA! I just looked at them with my most exasperated-don't-even-think-about-it-piss-off-do-your-work expression and said, 'I'm older than you, everything else is none of your business.' It pretty much took care of everything, but still didn't stop these particular 2 boys from repeatedly asking for a toilet pass to be excused to the gents. Those were the 2 boys who started the whole, 'eh cher u how old ah, eh cher u got boyfriend? cher I'm 18' crap which made the others start too. So I let them go the first time and they took 10 minutes to come back. And when I asked them for the past, Burly Dude #1 goes, "oh shit! Left in the toilet! CHer we must go and get it back!" This guy made Keanu Reeves' acting look Oscar-worthy. By the time the dymanic duo returned 5 minutes later I was ready to bare my fangs at them and claw their eyes out, after stapling their mouths shut without anaesthetic. Slowly.

THe bell rang at 1.30 pm and released them all from their misery. I was happily packing my bags when Burly Dudes corner me at the teachers' desk.

"CHer, so how old are you. I'm 18. -crooked grin-"
WTF.
Me: Older than you la! Eh, class has ended! Go and have fun!
"19? 20? 21?"
Me: -grabbing my bags and heading out as fast as my 2-inch wedges could carry me- Aiya! Enjoy your lunch!

And that was pretty much everything that happened on Thursday. The students at _________ secondary are a misunderstood bunch..in fact, the atmosphere there is so much more friendly than schools like CCHSM and DHS. Especially DHS. Everywhere I go I get smiles and greetings from students..some of them whose classes I didn't go to. I observed them as I was sitting outside the HOD room waiting for students to hand in their assignments...the genuine camaraderie and friendship between them was evident, and the sincerity with which they treated each other was a far cry from the guardedness that was a characteristic of many of my DHS classmates. Monkey Boys or not, I'm still looking forward to going back this week. I just wish my cough would recover soon.

croaaaaaak.

Labels: Relief teaching