I realized last Friday, after some particularly successful classes with my Form I students, that I have only four weeks left of normal class with them. This was a very sad moment for me, because of everything I have done here I think I have had the biggest impact on the Form I students, and I will miss them a lot. A big part of of me wishes I could teach them for all four years of their time at secondary school. So many of them have so much potential, and I worry that much of it will be wasted.
Like all classes, there are strong students, and weaker ones, but even among my weaker students there is such a passion and excitement for learning. Teaching other Forms, this passion was much reduced: students were far less excited about learning. It feels great to ask a question and have almost all the class raise their arms, many saying “teacher!,” “sir!,” or “Mr. Alex!” in attempt to have me call on them. You think by now they would know that I only call on the students who silently raise their hands, without standing up in their seat, snapping their fingers, or shouting at me, but in almost every class I have to chide a student, “I will not call on you unless you are quiet.” This behavior, as annoying as it sometimes is, exemplifies their youthful excitement. It is not altogether uncommon for me to call on a student by pointing at them, or raising my eyebrows, only to have that student and the two students sitting next to him/her all stand up and try to answer simultaneously.
Mostly, they are almost all just really, really, cute. Even the obnoxious ones who can’t stop moving around, talking, or trying to answer questions they don’t know the answer to are great. Some case studies to illustrative why I love my Form I students follow (names have been changed to protect privacy):
Sara is one of my smartest students. She is also the class monitor, meaning it is her responsibility to have me sign the class journal (a book where all the teachers indicate what lesson they taught), keep attendance, and bring me exercise books for marking. Every day Sara fills in all the relevant details (date, topic, subtopic, teacher name), that in all my other classes I have to fill in myself. All I need to do in her class is sign my name. Also, she is just incredibly bright.
Clara is one of those students who tries really hard, striving for perfection, but is rarely able to meet that goal. She is definitely a smart student, so she is always incredibly disappointed when she gets an answer wrong. I will go over to mark her exercise book, and at the first “x” she will say “teacher!” in this disappointed voice, as if I have it in for her. Also, when she doesn’t understand, she raises her hand and says “teacher, I don’t understand,” while she gives me an angry glare.
Steve is all over the place, and rarely a day passes when I don’t have to say “Steve, sit down!” or “Steve, stop bothering ____!” or “Steve, be quiet!” or “Steve, stop cheating!” Despite all this, Steve is very lovable, and you can tell that he just has a ton of energy he doesn’t know what to do with. And, even though he is far from the smartest student, he is always trying to improve, even if he has no idea what he is saying. Frequently, he will do everything in his power to get called on, and when I do eventually call on him he will stand up, look confused, and blurt out something entirely wrong, resulting in fits of giggling from most of the students in class. He has so much energy that I worry other teachers will discipline him to the point where he loses his passion for learning.
Justin is a diligent, committed, and focused student who has to work incredibly hard to understand a topic, but once he has understood, you can tell he will simply never forget it. Unfortunately, it takes him so long to understand something that I fear he, like Steve, will be one of those students that the system fails to educate.
I will miss these four, and about the 120 other Form I students who I have come to love and appreciate (the other 40 or so are, unfortunately, a nameless mass of especially poor students who I am simply unable to help in this system). I hope that their forward progress will continue, hopefully with another WorldTeach volunteer this July. Though, as I have recently learned, it is possible my school will not get another volunteer.