Time management

Today, I received a phone call from a student's parent. She told me on the phone that she was very worried about her daughter's health because her daughter hasn't had a good night sleep since she entered senior high school. Every day, she seems to have endless homework and tests to prepare for. She has to stay late almost every day. The mother was so worried that she herself couldn't sleep well. From the tone she used when talking to me, I could sense that she was so helpless that she was nearly blaming us(school teachers) for giving students too much homework. However, she was trying hard to hold back her anger because she knew it was not us to blame but the whole education system. Anyway, I can empathize with the parent's worry because I've heard so many students complaining about the heavy load of schoolwork. I have already tried hard to support them and help them deal with pressure. But since there has been a parent calling me to ask for help, I thought I should do more to help students with this problem. After I hung up the phone, I tried to think up some practical advice I could give to my students. In just a few minutes, Professor Randy Pausch's theory about time management came into my mind. Randy Pausch's idea about time management is an easy and effective method to help you classify the tasks you have to do. All your work can be classified into four groups--important and urgent, unimportant and urgent, important and not urgent, unimportant and not urgent. I shared this idea with my students in my English class.(I often use my own English class time to deal with my homeroom class's problem. That's why I may risk failing to teach all the assigned lessons before next mid-term exam.) I wanted my students to classify all their homework and tests into these four groups and put these groups in an order--which group of tasks they should do first and which is the last. Almost all the students put the group of "unimportant but urgent" in the second place, which is what most people do according to Randy Pausch. I told them, if they do the "unimportant but urgent" before the "important and not urgent", once they finish doing the former, the later will soon turn into an "important and urgent", which means they will be always urged by time. Thus, they will always do everything hastily to meet the due date. In this way, their life will become a vicious circle. So, I asked them to reconsider how they should arrange their jobs. There is no definite answer. The order in which they put their work depends on their own habits and situations. I just wanted them to think about it. I don't know how many students really understand this concept of time management, but after all, I have grown a seed in their mind. I hope one day this idea can really work for them.

Being cruel!

I never thought that one has to be cruel to be a high school teacher. If you sympathize with students' pressure, you will be too soft-hearted to give them assignments. Being a homeroom teacher of such a class, I couldn't neglect their pressure from studies and tests. I have to take care of their feelings and the problems they might come across. At the same time, I am also their English teacher.I have my requirements for students in my English class. However, whenever I assign homework to them, an inner voice of their homeroom teacher will tell me not to push them too hard and that they already have too much work from other subjects to do. When I face this dilemma, I will try hard to forget my identity of their homeroom teacher and be cruel to give them my assignments, which might be challenging for them. Lately, I have been trying to balance the job of being a homeroom teacher and that of being an English teacher. And I also hope my students can distinguish my two different identities.

Let's call it a day. (I mean my writing.) I have to prepare to play badminton now!

Oct. 27

This weekend, I saw two movies on DVDs. One is about friendship and middle-age crisis. The other is about brotherhood and spiritual journey. I like both of them, especially "The Darjeeling Limited" (one about brotherhood). The cast of the film is good. There are three leading actors in the movie. One is Owen Wilson and I can't remember the names of the other two. The setting of the movie is in India, mostly on a train to Darjeeling. The story is about three brothers who haven't met each other for a long time going on a spiritual journey in India, which is the eldest brother's idea. The eldest brother, played by Owen Wilson, got severely injured in a car accident. He almost died in the accident. When he was being saved, what flashed in his mind was his two brothers and the childhood they spent together. So, after the accident, he decided to "summon" his two younger brothers over to join his so-called spiritual journey. Somehow, despite that they were distant from each other(both physically and emotionally), they finally made it to get on the train. The three brothers have been parted for quite a long time, each one having his own way of life. They have so different personalities and ways of thinking. This is why it is interesting to see three totoally different types of persons having to stay together in a tiny coach. At first, probably because they haven't hung out for a long time, they are like three parallel lines. Their talk is not so much a converstaion as a monologue. No one is really responding to another's remarks. However, there's still some unspeakable mutual understanding among these three brothers. After all, they are brothers. Just as they say in the movie, "If we were not brothers, could we be friends?" They know they are different people but they still have something in common that only brothers have. After all, they grew up in the same enviornment, going through the same family events. So, even though they have been separated for a long time, it isn't long before they get back into the same mode of interaction--the eldest give orders while the younger ones obey. On the other hand, the eldest, who always has to make decisions, has the greatest burden of responsibilities. He has to be strong and decisive, yet, he also needs his brothers to support him.
(I have to stop writing here, cause Clio is keeping sending messages to me, I can't make my thoughts organized. I will finish it next time.)

Show and Tell

Every Thursday, I have my students do "show and tell." They have to bring something meaninful to them and tell a story about it. In my class, almost every student who has already given the presentation did a very good job. Some of them speak fluent English; some of them presented interesting contents. I've enjoyed every student's presentation. However, not until today did I see a really impressive and touching presentation. This presentation was given by a student who is not so good at English. She even got the lowest grade on English mid-term exam in my class. At first, I didn't expect much from her report. And as I had predicted, she couldn't do without her note. However, as her report went on, I as well as all the students sensed the sincerity in her report, or to be more precise, her confession. The class became more silent than usual because everyone was all ears to listen to her story carefully. The first few words she said in her report had already caught everybody's attention. She began like this, "You know that my fingers are different from yours." As soon as these words came out, not only I but also most of the students were confused and a little bit shocked. She held out her right hand, and we could clearly see that her index finger was amputated. Most of the students were shocked because they, like me, knew this for the first time. They have studied together for two months and they hadn't known this until today. Then, the reporter told the story about how she lost her finger. When she was one year old, she accidentally touched a sewing machine. Her finger got injured so badly that the doctor had no choice but to cut her finger off. Despite the defect of her finger, when she was still a child, she decided to learn to play the piano. Her parents tried to find a piano teacher for her, but when piano teachers learned about her problem, they refused to take the challenge of teaching her. However, they finally found a teacher who was willing to teach her. During the report, she didn't mention much about how difficult it was for her to learn playing the piano. She just said that she had to find some other ways or create her own techniques to make up for her defect of her finger. Then, she played a video clip of her playing a number in a concert. In contrast to her calmness when she was speaking, the audience were touched and emotionally affected by her report, including me. I was so touched by her determintaion and enthusiasm for music. Imagine the obstacles she had faced with on her way to pursuing her music dream. Some might have doubted whether she could play music or not. Some might have said something discouraging to her. However, she didn't give up playing the piano. So far, she has learned to play the piano for 10 years. Now, she can play very well. Today, I learned a great lesson from her. Every student has her own story, even if they are still very young. I am grateful that I can be a teacher, whose job involves meeting different types of people. I think I will learn much more from them than they from me.

Oct. 22

I have nothing particular to say. I just want to write something in English. Today is just a normal work day. I didn't have class until 11 o'clock in the morning, yet I still went to school very early to see the students take tests. Then, after the morning study session was over, I went directly to the breakfast shop to have breakfast. I ordered the Chinese egg pancake with corns and cheese and a cup of iced black tea. I read newspapers while I was eating my breakfast. After finishing my breakfast, I went back to my office and started to prepare lessons. There were still 2 and half hours away from my first class. Sometimes it is more tiring to wait for classes than having classes. My second class is in the afternoon. Now, I am sitting here typing because I've finished my second class. And I am about to have my last class for today. I think I have to leave. Today's article is very boring and lacks content. Sorry for myself.

My recent life

It has been 2 months since I took the job of being the homeroom teacher as well as the English teacher of Class 112, which is called the Language Talented class. It requires a lot of courage to take the job. I don't mean that I am more courageous than other teachers. The reason I would take this job was just that I was half forced to. The principal was too persuasive and a little bit arbitrary when he was talking me into taking this job. So, I could not but promise to take the job without any struggles. I knew, sooner or later, it would be my turn to teach the Language Talented class. But, I had never thought that I would be assigned to be the homeroom teacher of that class. I thought that I was still green and not experienced enough. There are still so many experienced teachers who are more qualified than me to take the job. Anyway, I have been on the boat. I can't get off the boat halfway. All I can do now is grit my teeth and move on. So far, I have taught the class for 2 months. To be frank, it is not as challenging as I had expected, although there are indeed some challenges or problems that I have never handled before. The problems of this class are very different from those of other "normal" classes. In a normal class, one thing a homeroom teacher does is remind students to study harder. A homeroom teacher of a normal class has to think up as many ways as possible to encourage students to work hard, get good grades, and be competitive. However, the situation is very different in a talented class. Students in a talented class are competitive enough and most of time, they put too much pressure on themselves. They always want to be perfect and they are too demanding for themselves. So, the task of a homeroom teacher of such a class is no more asking them to study harder but teaching them to relax. The homeroom teacher of such a class is more like a counselor. She has to give comfort and security for these anxious students. There has been too much tension in class and among the students. If the homeroom teacher adds more tension or pressure on the class, some students are very likely to break down. The competition between students is too keen, and the stress from the schoolwork is too much for them. If the atmosphere of the class is not good or the environment is not secure, it is very likely that some of the students will drop out of the class before long. However, to my relief, the students in my class are supporting one another. They have created a good atmosphere in class. Besides, I am not as anxious as I was during the first two weeks. I can be more relaxed when facing them. Just as an observant student of mine told me, "If you(I as their teacher) can be calmer and more confident, we(the students) will feel more secure to rely on you." I know I am making some progress. No matter how challenging the job is, I should feel appreciated that I got the chance to grow and mature.