The finish line is approaching

Six weeks. In the past six weeks I have learned a great many things both from good examples of what to do and bad examples, like what not to do.

This week I observed a class where a female learner’s cell phone was taken from her during class by the teacher. Being that cell phones are not allowed to be used during class time, this punishment was appropriate. However upon taking the phone from the learner, the teacher then began to read the messages which were open on the screen of the phone. This all took place in the span of about 2 minutes, while the teacher read the messages (silently in his head) several of the learners complained about the teacher not having the right to go through the messages. I personally did not see the messages but it must have been something explicit because after reading it the teacher’s expression was on of visible anger. The teacher then proceeded to shout at a learner who was defending the learner whose phone was taken away. I am of the opinion that the learners phone being takes was a good thing, but the teacher should not have read through the messages, or at least not in front of the learners in the class. The matter should have been dealt with more appropriately by means of a discussion with the learner at a later stage about the content.

In this week I had a few lessons free so I made a point of observing some of the Physical Education lessons, this was quite a fun experience as I got involved with the mini games which the learners and their teacher took part in, from hand tennis to basketball it was a good experience. The learners found it very nice to interact with their teacher (me) in a different setting to the regular classroom, and I feel that my relationship with the classes who I interacted with has grown substantially as they are quite a bit more open with me in class. The learners are more interactive and even the more quiet learners are taking part in discussions in class. There are a few learners who push the boundaries though, namely one or two learners who would call me by my first name rather than calling me “sir” or Mr. Harvey, which I do not tolerate and reprimand them on.

This week has taught me a lot, my mentor teacher was absent on Friday this week as he was attending a conference and I had to then take his classes for the day. A full day of lessons is quite tolling, more on my voice that anything else but I managed to make my way through the day without any hiccups or incidents. This was one of the first times when I was left to my own devices with a class. Being alone with the class is a different experience then having their teacher be in the room, the learners were very open and had a great deal of “risky” or embarrassing questions which they asked me. These questions came mainly from the grade 9's who are dealing with human reproduction at the moment, questions ranged from; “can a girl get pregnant if she swims in a pool that a man has ejaculated in?” to “is masturbation healthy?”. I answered all these questions to the best of my knowledge and furthermore encouraged the learners to ask more questions because that is how they will learn. I would like to think that I made a difference, even if it was just one learner who takes my “advice” or listens to what I had to say, it would still be something good.

On top of this brilliant interaction I have had, I am proud of myself for having learned the names of every learner I teach, my 2 grade 11 classes, 1 grade 10 class, and 1 grade 9 class, along with a few extras who I have gotten to know here and there from sport etc.  I have read from another student that there is difficulty with learning names, and at first it was difficult for me but I forced myself to learn their names by making sure I used their names often. I make a point of greeting them by name when I see then in the hall ways, or calling them by name if I see them talking in class. I find the learners very surprised when they realise that the student teacher knows their names and I like to joke with them by saying “if I know your name, there is a good reason why I know it”. Learners are very quick to be quiet once I say that.

I am very thankful that thus far I have not had any major issues take place in my teaching time, and I have built a very good relationship with all of my classes, even my disruptive grade 9 class has begun to calm down somewhat. While I do enjoy the nice time that I have had, I know that not all schools or even classes will be this easy to handle. But for now I am thoroughly enjoying my teaching practice and look forward to the weeks to come.