Call me insane but one of my favourite classes is 1-9, the lowest and the baddest of them all. These kids are not bad kids, they're just not suited to the typical learning system of sit down, take notes, memorise and reproduce. Sure, this class is the biggest headache, but its also the source of some of the greatest rewards. Here's two stories, just to prove the point.
One of my low level students gave me the biggest smile ever today. He clearly has a social problem, is extremely skinny, perpetually nervous, and barely speaks a word of English OR Korean. He's so terrified of other students that he refused to work with a partner for our recent speaking exam and I've never seen him converse with another student inside or outside of class. But everyday he's the first one to my class. Maybe he enjoys it there, or maybe he's simply taking the chance to escape from the others, but either way, when he sees me his entire face lights up, bright smile and bright eyes. In or out, I'm treated to the same result, bright eyes and wide smile. Honestly - I don't know if I'm teaching the kids any English, I really don't. But I damn well hope I'm making them feel better about themselves, and I guess that's an important lesson in itself. That's the reason I'm teaching High School, to make a difference. Now for my favourite trouble maker. I found him in the hallway as I often do. He was cleaning, the school's favourite punishment for anything from smoking, to being late. Today it was for wearing pants which were an inch or two too short, revealing his socks, black with a fluro rainbow pattern. That darn kid! He should have known better! He's a repeat offender too! But anyway, he greets me as he always does, 'Hello teacher', I respond and continue about my business.
That day I roamed the corridors a lot and passed him on numerous occasions. Each him he says 'Teacher, two times we meet'. This continued until we hit 'Teacher, five times we meet.' Whoever said 16 year olds couldn't be cute? It was about this time he explained his story to me, as best he could. I know I shouldn't, but all I could really do was laugh. There was another teacher nearby, but she didn't hear me. The boy was missing out on all of his classes, running about the corridor with a small group of other trouble makers, cleaning and generally having fun. Occasionally they were checked up on by other teachers, but really,
there has to be a better way. There have been
times when six of my 1-9 class (low level My two favourite trouble makers, taken on sports day.
computer students) have been doing this
ridiculous punishment. Today it was only
three. Perhaps in future I'll move my class
to the hallway and we can all clean and
learn together, yeah, that'd show them!
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