Today was slightly better as the ice has been broken. The teacher tried to know me better and things seem to improve as she initially thought that I was an auditor who was observing her every single movement in class. The children seem to be slowly used to my presence and stop staring at me. Perhaps this is because S, the special needs girl, was not in class today. I am unsure why she wasn't present but I do hope it is not because of me.
So far, I have successfully remembered the names of a handful of kids. I strive to remember all of their names by the end of this week (or hopefully earlier than that). It was better when they were all sitting down in groups and I remember them according to their positions. However, when the kids start engaging in their different activities, it becomes slightly more difficult for me to be able to remember all their names.
The kids are always amusing and they never fail to amaze me with the stuff that they come up with. For instance, I was chatting with a boy, A, yesterday and he showed me his creation of a little boy with his puzzle shapes. He said that the "puzzle boy" was his brother and so I probed further to ask about how old his brother was. However, A does not seem to comprehend my question and so I changed the question to a slightly easier one - What's the name of your brother? He proceeded to answer me and even went on to tell me about the names of his entire family, including his parents. -_-" I was amused at him but I listened to his soft mumbles with concentration. It was only today that I realize that he wasn't really strong in his academics and was a slow learner. I am glad that I had taken the time off to try to understand him better and I do hope that I will be able to slowly learn how to guide him and improve his academic standing.
Another incident that happened today was a gal, J, who brought stickers to class. She offered her stickers to me but I politely declined (or perhaps I wasn't polite enough) as I thought she might not bear to part with her stickers. I would if I were her! The teacher later told me that she brought the stickers specially for me, and her words stung me immediately. I was unsure of what to do and I sure hope that she will not be upset by my rejection. *pray hard* The least thing I want to do is to upset any kid.
I also played with kids from the other K1 class today during their activities corner. There was printed money at the dramatic corner and of course, me being the finance major graduate, was attracted to this corner. I tried to teach them the value of money but I realize that for some kids, they are unsure of the value of money. For instance, when I showed some of the kids a $1000 note, they told me that it was a $10 note. Similarly, when I showed them a $50 note, they told me it was a $5 note. It seems that they were unable to recognize the extra zeroes at the back. Moreover, some of the kids were brighter and they were able to identify the different currency notes when I tested them in a group setting. I also asked them which notes they would prefer - a $1000 note or $2 note. One of the boys who was pretty smart immediately took the $1000 note whereas a gal chose the $2 note. The boy then proceeded to laugh at her. I gently asked her about her choice in notes and she replied that with a $2 note, she would be able to buy her lunch. Isn't it sweet? But I sure do hope to be able to teach them the value of money so that they will not be cheated in any way when they are purchasing items on their own. Hopefully, society will not be cruel enough to cheat any young kids of their pocket money.
In addition, during the activities period for the K1 class that I was in, I joined the group who was working on puzzles. As there were only 3 puzzles for 4 children, there was insufficient resources for the kids to work on. Besides, the puzzles were too simple and not challenging enough for the kids as they seemed to have worked on the puzzles for many times before. I wonder how this could be improved on in a permanent way. Perhaps I should suggest to hq to have a puzzle renting shop or department in the near future to rotate puzzles among all centres. That would be costly though. Nonetheless, working on a puzzle that you know the solution in advance certainly takes the fun out of the challenge. One of the girls, V, was also unwilling to share her puzzles with the other gal. When the other gal requested for her turn, V allowed her to play the puzzle on the condition that she controlled all the pieces, and that is V would pass her the pieces of puzzle one by one. As a teacher, I have no idea what I should do in such a scenario. I know I should step in to teach the child to share but I am in no position to do so and I sure don't wish to see any parent coming over with a chopper over my head. Thus, I chose the easy way out and that is to pull the other gal out from the situation and get her to work with other peers.
Last but not least, for the other K1 class, I personally witnessed a boy lying on the floor mat at the reading corner while another boy stepped on his back. I just stood there and do nothing as the other boy who was lying on the floor was smiling. The other teacher saw this incident and came over to scold the boy and punish him. At that moment, I felt like a total idiot. It seems like I cant differentiate what is right and wrong myself. The worse thing is when I saw the whole incident, I was dreaming of the Javanese massage that has a massager stepping on ur back and how nice that would be. I know, I am such an idiot. I should learn to snap out of my weird fantasy daydreams and be firm with students at times.
Best thing of today: Class was cancelled at SP =)
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