Teaching, the noble profession

I never wanted to teach. Part of it stems from the fear that students will be assholes and mess up your lessons. The other part comes from the excruciatingly long hours teachers work. Yes, official working hours are similar to that of a student, where you start work at 7.30am and end at 1.35pm. And then you go home, everyone who is not a teacher will tell you that. Ah relaxing indeed.

That view is way too simplistic. That argument, you do realise, can be reversed to say that student life is way too relaxing. You start at 7.30am, end at 1.35pm, and go home and sleep till the next day. REALLY? Was that how your days as a student were? The answer would definitely be no. You complained, there's too much school work, there're afternoon lessons, there's cca, there's this, there's that. THE SAME GOES FOR A TEACHER AND MORE.

A teacher would have afternoon lessons, pupils staying back to ask more questions and to discuss problems, 120 times more school work than the student(assuming 4 classes of 30 each), a need to prepare for lessons(where do you think those powerpoint slides come from?), cca trainings to attend, random courses to go for, and plenty of staff meetings to attend. The hours are actually longer than the typical 8-5 jobs you find around.

So why am i teaching? The reasons have changed greatly over the past few weeks. What started out as a gesture of goodwill is now a drive to see certain students do well. By now, most of you should roughly know the events leading up to my appearance back at RI that gave many teachers a pleasant surprise. Nevertheless, i'm still getting questions on that and i don't want to repeat myself for the 100th time, hence i'm gonna write it down here and refer anyone who asks to this place.

28th dec(5491 south hyde park blvd, chicago, IL 60615) 8.30pm
I was freezing happily alone in my sis' room, attempting to assess the net on my E51 phone when it rang. To be exact, it vibrated, as my phone is permanently on silent mode. It was a message from a former teacher back in RI, requesting a discussion. As I was in chicago, i asked him to send an email, which i checked with my phone. In it, the mail says that he'll be on mc for the first 2 weeks, and as he is teaching Raffles Academy students(advanced physics), he hopes i can help by relieving him for those 2 weeks. Knowing that he is probably running out of options(i'm probably the weakest in the entire sci club quiz team in my batch) and as a 'repayment' for all the help he has rendered over my years in RI, i agreed.

26th jan(1 Raffles Institution Lane) 1pm
Fast forward to today, and i've accepted another teaching offer. This time, it isn't just a gesture of goodwill. There is more to it. So what has changed? Where has the fear of the students and long hours gone to? Well, the fundamental point that has changed is my own perception of how teaching should be. Teaching is about helping students, just like how i've received help from my teachers in the past. However, students have to be willing to help themselves before they can be helped, a point well put across by Saw IV(all go watch the Saw series, plot is very amazing). That said, i simply can't be bothered by the idiots who mess around in class, but in every class i've been to, even a supposedly weak sports class, i see students with a drive to study, to understand the concepts behind what drives this world. 'How water goes up a straw due to pressure, how the moon looks like a line instead of a ball across the sea due to reflection' It's this drive that forces me to ignore the clowns, and to focus on helping those who want to help themselves. And i really hope they do well.

What about the long hours? Sure that can't be helped, every job has its own bad points, and this is what a teacher must cope with. furthermore, marking physics papers is a hell lot easier than marking english papers. Only bad point is in booking and preparing a lab lesson.

so for anyone who's jobless and has persevered to the end of this long post, here's a reward for you. A JOB! There's an opening to relief teach upper sec physics at RI. If you think what u've read above is what you're looking for as well, teaching is for you. Contact me if you want the job! I can help you get it!


On a side note, i'm amazed by some teachers' memories. They can still remember my name after all these years, even though i'm not prominent to most of them(except physics teachers). Truly amazing. Ms Pang from rjc PE dept remembers me. cool.