Some of the things that I have had to do for my job are plan lessons, teach lessons, prepare materials, and even write "report card" comments. I also had to accompany the students on different trips around Penang. This has given me a good opportunity to gain experience as a teacher and also explore the area where I live.
I learned that having a good attitude is an important key to learning. Many of the students in my class did not actually want to be in class. Most of my students were exchange students from China who had little to no knowledge of English, and did not necessarily wish to learn English. Their parents made them come. Thus, many of the students were unmotivated and were a challenge to engage. I learned that motivation has a lot to do with learning.
Something else that I learned is that so much of communication is nonverbal. When I would be with the students or with a parent, many of the students or parents would speak in Chinese, even to me. Despite that, I was able to infer much of what they were saying based on the context and their tone of voice.
Having done all this, I am not sure that I would want to be a teacher. I do not think that I can handle the pressure of being around emotional little humans all day. I am not sure I would want to do that. Besides, I have found myself more than once this past month muttering under my breath, "When I'm older, I shall work with inanimate objects."
More than just learning, I had a lot of fun as well. I was able to take the kids I taught on a lot of outings. I was able to explore Penang. I was able to go to Escape (an outdoor adventure park), Entopia (a butterfly farm), do batik, as well as hike to Turtle Beach (where there are turtles). I really enjoyed exploring Penang and would love to do my job all over again if I could.
Outside the school where I worked; this is my first day of work
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| The classroom where I was an assistant teacher |
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