Breakfast: Two sunny-side up eggs, two cups of rice, one glass of milk

Weight: 70 kilograms. Just where I want it to be…

It is outright ridiculous when your students call you out for not following your own rule.

In my school, people are not supposed to use any other language other than English. So one day, I caught a student named Elisa* talking with Siri* inside the kitchen in their native language.

Me: Guys, using other languages is not allowed…
Elisa: But I heard you using another language, Teacher!
Me: Where did I talk using that language?
Elisa: Near the office, when you were talking with the assistant director…

Oops. That did not go right.

I will watch myself next time and do my best not to talk in another language in the presence of my students.

Lunch: One cup of rice

Students do notice you, though it took me more than three years before a student finally called me out on that item.

Student: Morning sir!
Me: Morning.
Student: Sir, why is your hair not combed properly?

Strike two.

Well, sometimes, I’m in a hurry during some mornings.

Dinner: One cup of rice and two scrambled eggs

It’s the second week of class and I’ve already ran into some problematic students.

For example, someone messed up with the faculty room door, double-tapping the door as he passed by.

I decided to act like a ninja and catch him off-guard, which he did.

Me: Mr. C, why did you keep on double-tapping the door? Do you realize that you are disturbing everyone who’s doing their work inside the faculty room?
Mr. C: Yeah.
Me: The next time around if you do this again, I will personally refer you to the office for disciplinary action.
Mr. C: Yeah.

Holy crap, at least nothing happened to me so far that I can’t handle.

Strike three.

Sometimes, the best way for students to learn how to act properly is through the use of signs and visuals. That’s my opinion of course – and everyone knows that signs and visuals lose their value when they are overused, whether it is inside or outside the classroom.

It’s not easy at all to train students for competitions outside, let alone showing them the skills that will benefit them beyond the competition (i.e. stuff that they can basically use and apply anywhere).

With that note, I really do hope to that my students get a gold medal this year in the various competitions that they attend.

At least, I can say to myself that my team did went to the top of the podium for once (though there were several close calls over the past two years, like getting second or third place).

Yes, when it comes to competition, it should be friendly.

But when the name of the school is at stake, then the stakes go higher as well – and I believe that one should pour everything towards the target, 100%, to achieve the best results possible.

Teaching English to younger students (i.e. Grades 1/2/3) requires a lot of activities as well as visual stuff that they can interact with.

I am paying the price right now as I am forced to adapt out of my comfort zone; after all, I never expected to be handling Grade 3, let alone Grade 4 for this year – but then again, I should have seen it coming.

Students want to be able to see and interact with the things that they are being taught – which means lots of usage of drawings, visualization and realia inside the classroom.

The only thing I am thankful for is the fact that they already have a very good level of English, thanks to the efforts of their former teachers back in Grades 1 and 2.

Another thing that I observed is that you can’t stop them from moving around – they are kids; so the teacher has to channel their movement (or energy) in a way that it will not disrupt the class and allow the teacher to reach the objective that needs to be taught for the day.

And it’s raining outside, with the winds howling fiercely, like a wolf crashing and tearing its prey apart.

I hope that everyone keeps safe in this inclement weather!