It was late January when I finally received a call from Queenstown Secondary School. I was asked to teach Geography at Secondary 1 Express, Normal, Secondary 2 Normal and Secondary 3 Normal. I agreed without hesitation. It was a simple 'Yes' that made me a relief teacher for about 4 months.
Life as a relief teacher was not as easy as I always thought. The job was not a simple one. It was not easy to handle students, especially the more mischievious ones. I had 9 classes in all. I remembered that after my first day of work, I had sore throat as I was not used to projecting my voice.
One of the toughest thing as a relief teacher was to control the class. Many times, my class went out of my control. The situation was really bad, especially the Normal classes. I had to blame myself for not being fierce enough. The next tough part was to set tests & mid year exam papers. I really ran out of questions and had to rely on reference books & assessment books. Setting the mid year exam paper for Secondary 1 Express, Normal & Secondary 2 Normal was a real challenge. It was also very stressful.
One good thing & also a bad thing was that students treated me as their friend more than a teacher. The good part was that our barrier was narrowed, students told me many things they wouldn't tell other teachers. But it was also because of 'closeness' that brought some disrespectful & 'not fearful(of teacher)' acts.
On the whole, I still had a very good experience. Now, if you ask me if I wanted to be a teacher again, I would think twice(though I may probably step into this line again, probably). It is really not a simple job. But if you can manage the job well, it can be very fufilling, really.
1C is one of the most spirited class I have taught. They often organise
class gatherings, chalets etc. Imagine, they are only Secondary One. How
many of us have class gatherings during lower secondary school days? Thanz
for inviting me to some of your gatherings. I have to apologise for not
able to go to some of those gatherings you all had.
I am squatting behind Faizal, a guy in the front line in red T-shirt.
This is Class 1D. Also a class with many mischievious students. They
are a group of very lively students, although they went out of my control
at times. Look at their cheeky faces below. I am the one in different dressing.
Oh yes, the school wants all female teachers to wear skirts or dresses.
That is a real headache coz I don't wear dresses/skirts! That explains
why I am always wearing that few sets of clothes throughout those teaching
days. I hate dresses/skirts!!!
Picture taken with some of my students. It was taken at Clementi. Some
of us went there after my student's birthday party(Clare was the birthday
gal, the one at top left hand corner. The one beside Clare is Me). In the
brown frame 'Memorial' neoprint, the one on the left is Wanqi, centre is
Me, Right is Joanne.
I manage to get some bigger pictures of my students from 1E. Left:
Siti, Centre: Musa, Right: Annie
The rest of the pictures I got from some of my students are all neoprints:
