Quiz-mania has been going around on facebook for the past few weeks. if i were to take the "how would you die?" quiz, the returned result would definitely be "by primary 3 kids". that's just a roundabout way of saying that sooner or later, these kids are going to dive me to an early grave. each successive training session has exponentially increased my respect for primary school teachers - or indeed, any person who takes care of kids aged 10 and below on a daily/regular basis.
today's training session was a bit too chaotic. still need to work on my crowd control skills. i wish it was as easy as grabbing one of them by the neck and shaking him/her (well, it's mainly the guys...girls tend to be better-behaved) up abit lot. believe me, i've entertained that thought (and several - think 20 or more - even more drastic/painful ones) way more often than is good for health. but, therapeutic as the act may be, i would definitely be in a world of trouble after carrying it out. end result? not worth it. patience is a virtue...which i don't have, and am supposed to acquire through this.
there has to be an easier way to maintain discipline, right? maybe it's time for me to do something on a larger scale, like giving the entire class a time-out. as of now, i already have a pretty good idea of who i'm going to pull out for some quiet time during the next lesson. as much as i hope it doesn't come to that, it's the only solution sometimes. of course, there's the alternative solution of activating the teacher. think i might start to do that too. actually, there's a tiny little part of me that actually WANTS someone to pull a major stunt...major enough to warrant severe punishment. reason being that i can show the rest of the class i mean business by making that person sit out, or worse. chinese idiom goes "kill one, warn a hundred" or something along those lines. yes, i know it's wrong and sadistic, but indulge me...i've been traumatized!
now that my semi-rant is over, let's talk about their progress on the lanes. moved on to foul-line drills today. most of them got the idea, but there are still a few of them who just WON'T listen to instructions, even after several repetitions. these few also fall into the "kids i want to shake up" category. i really don't know what's the issue here. i'm already using simple english, speaking slowly and clearly (well...it's slow and clear enough for the majority, at least), so i don't see what the problem is. it's probably about capturing and holding their attention, which (sadly) is another of my weaker areas.
of course, there are the select 1 or 2 who just can't get into the proper position due to anatomical/physiological constraints. can't really blame them, because they do take the effort to try (when they remember to, that is). i still have yet to find out how to overcome that little limitation, and the fact that one of them is more comfortable conversing in chinese doesn't really improve my odds. my chinese muscles definitely got a workout today! incidentally, could someone enlighten me on how to say these few phrases..."lean forward", "keep all your weight on your left foot", "maintain balance", "stretch out your right leg"...in chinese that a primary 3 kid would understand? i'd really appreciate it.
all in all, there's definitely room for improvement...both in their skills and in my teaching style. on the bright side, the whistle did help! ended class with my throat feeling less abused than last week. my knee held up too, which is something i'm extremely thankful for. lucky we weren't doing one-step drills today. i'd just die from all that sliding.
the situation down under has taken a turn for the worse. my cousins are now hell-bent on living separately from each other. the whole thing is reminiscent of my feud with SOMEONE in the army, with the main difference being that it's between relatives now. maybe it's because i've been dealing with kids (18 of them! the horror!) earlier today, but the whole thing just sounds childish to me. i really really think that both of them need to have a nice, direct talk, so that each party knows how he's pissing the other one off. then, work from there, change for the better, and everyone's happy. but...it's past that stage now. in fact, i'd go as far as to say that it's beyond salvaging. i just wonder how they'll behave towards each other at family functions in future. time will tell...
for some reason, my brain/mind feels overstuffed today. it's probably the fatigue setting in. at any rate, i think i'm not very well-equipped to deal with any more heavy/draining stuff today. going to sleep it off. besides, i have driving early tomorrow morning. don't want my lack of sleep to cause any accidents now, do we?
today's training session was a bit too chaotic. still need to work on my crowd control skills. i wish it was as easy as grabbing one of them by the neck and shaking him/her (well, it's mainly the guys...girls tend to be better-behaved) up a
there has to be an easier way to maintain discipline, right? maybe it's time for me to do something on a larger scale, like giving the entire class a time-out. as of now, i already have a pretty good idea of who i'm going to pull out for some quiet time during the next lesson. as much as i hope it doesn't come to that, it's the only solution sometimes. of course, there's the alternative solution of activating the teacher. think i might start to do that too. actually, there's a tiny little part of me that actually WANTS someone to pull a major stunt...major enough to warrant severe punishment. reason being that i can show the rest of the class i mean business by making that person sit out, or worse. chinese idiom goes "kill one, warn a hundred" or something along those lines. yes, i know it's wrong and sadistic, but indulge me...i've been traumatized!
now that my semi-rant is over, let's talk about their progress on the lanes. moved on to foul-line drills today. most of them got the idea, but there are still a few of them who just WON'T listen to instructions, even after several repetitions. these few also fall into the "kids i want to shake up" category. i really don't know what's the issue here. i'm already using simple english, speaking slowly and clearly (well...it's slow and clear enough for the majority, at least), so i don't see what the problem is. it's probably about capturing and holding their attention, which (sadly) is another of my weaker areas.
of course, there are the select 1 or 2 who just can't get into the proper position due to anatomical/physiological constraints. can't really blame them, because they do take the effort to try (when they remember to, that is). i still have yet to find out how to overcome that little limitation, and the fact that one of them is more comfortable conversing in chinese doesn't really improve my odds. my chinese muscles definitely got a workout today! incidentally, could someone enlighten me on how to say these few phrases..."lean forward", "keep all your weight on your left foot", "maintain balance", "stretch out your right leg"...in chinese that a primary 3 kid would understand? i'd really appreciate it.
all in all, there's definitely room for improvement...both in their skills and in my teaching style. on the bright side, the whistle did help! ended class with my throat feeling less abused than last week. my knee held up too, which is something i'm extremely thankful for. lucky we weren't doing one-step drills today. i'd just die from all that sliding.
the situation down under has taken a turn for the worse. my cousins are now hell-bent on living separately from each other. the whole thing is reminiscent of my feud with SOMEONE in the army, with the main difference being that it's between relatives now. maybe it's because i've been dealing with kids (18 of them! the horror!) earlier today, but the whole thing just sounds childish to me. i really really think that both of them need to have a nice, direct talk, so that each party knows how he's pissing the other one off. then, work from there, change for the better, and everyone's happy. but...it's past that stage now. in fact, i'd go as far as to say that it's beyond salvaging. i just wonder how they'll behave towards each other at family functions in future. time will tell...
for some reason, my brain/mind feels overstuffed today. it's probably the fatigue setting in. at any rate, i think i'm not very well-equipped to deal with any more heavy/draining stuff today. going to sleep it off. besides, i have driving early tomorrow morning. don't want my lack of sleep to cause any accidents now, do we?
-random thought of the day: Why can't they get along?-
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