My Favourite Pastime

My favourite pastime is actually drawing.However I have not been using the right side of my brain for many good years due to my work. Teaching job has become so demanding.When you have 20 periods of teaching, some people will think you have all the time in the world and start giving you all the mundane jobs.I wish these people realise that teachers need more time to mark students' work and to prepare materials for their next lesson.

Teaching is not about going into the classroom, controlling the students,making sure they sit still while completing their work.There are more to teaching.Only good teachers know!

As a teacher, I need to relate to them, make them comfortable so that they feel that I am accessible at any time of the day.I would not like to be like my Add Math teacher.He entered the class,wrote one sample of how a math problem is solved and then asked us to complete 20 or more questions on our own. The next 65 minutes, he sat down at his desk and dozed off. He made me sick.The worst thing was I could not complain about him.(It was taboo during my time)

I also do not want to be like those teachers who purposely give their students extra mark( not 1 but 20 marks)to push their students' grade. The principal may be smiling from ear to ear to see the many A but how is he or she going to answer when the actual exam result comes out. (Also what kind of answer is he or she going to give to God when he asks)

Teaching English is not like teaching Mathematics or Accounting. Even though the teachers speak English like the native speakers of English, there is no way a student can imitate him or her exactly because the process involved in mastering a language takes a long period of time. It cannot be acquired within a few months. Students need to be in an English speaking environment. They need also to read a lot,write a lot and think a lot in English.By giving students to do exam format questions alone won't help them to acquire the language. They may get A but they will not able to communicate in the language effectively. I have come across an average student who is able to speak English fluently while his friend who is an A scorer, can't even string a few comprehensible sentences.

I just hope that English teachers are allowed to be creative in their classroom.I am confident that most English teachers know how to do their jobs.

Comments

  1. Salam Aleikoum,
    I'm also a teacher of English in an Algerian university. I can imagine how you feel with all the job you have. I am experiencing the same now.
    Excuse me to say it, but am happy to know that am not the only one who has this terrible feeling of restlessness with all the job I have. It gives me a kind of solidarity.
    Alhamdulillah, there is a rewarding side in teaching, which is the success of our students and their memories for us. In view of my busy days I can't be sure to come around frequently on this nice page.In this case if you wanna get in touch, here is my mail: madjidv@gmail.com or my facebook account: http://www.facebook.com/#!/abouguedra
    Fi Amani Allah,
    Abdelmadjid

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  2. Waalaikummussalam

    May Allah gives us strength and good health! Yes I agree with you. Teaching is a wonderful job as it gives us a lot of opportunities that others don't have. We impart knowledge to thousands of young minds. Yet as teachers we need to be humble because all the knowledge that we have belongs to the Almighty. Hope we can continue to inspire the youths.

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