3 Painful Lessons As a Teacher

Applying for a career in teaching was never my option especially since I’ve been toying around with the idea of freelancing. But hey! Look where we are at now.

So, the story begins like this.

In my last semester in university, I applied for teaching and received an invitation for an interview. I think I aced it because I received an acceptance email from them 2–3 months after. And thus begins my journey in teaching.

In Singapore, we are posted to a school for a term or two before we are officially enrolled into a teaching school. I believe this was done to allow individuals to have the time to reconsider teaching. If you do not know, teaching is a high-intensity career path with no paid OTs. There are high expectations and crazy long hours.

I was posted to a secondary school (equivalent to high school in the US) to teach Chemistry and Biology and I spent about one and a half years there. Throughout my stint there, there were a lot of things that I learnt. Here are a few.

Patience is key, Don’t (I REALLY MEAN IT) ever lose your patience

There is a running joke in the office about how every teacher will have a point in time in their career that they feel like strangling their students (not literally, just figuratively. Please don’t get me in trouble :))

Managing students has to be one of the most difficult things to do especially when the ratio is 1:40. I admire teachers that are able to manage a class successfully especially when there are so many different students with different learning requirements and needs.

There will be times when your patience is tested such as when students do not do what they are told or when students make so much ruckus in class. There will be times where you feel that you’re going to explode and there will be times when you feel like you’re on the brink of giving up. But I implore you to take a deep breath and calm down.

Exploding at students might be one of the easiest ways to lose their respect for you as a teacher. It might show that you are losing control of the class. Sometimes all they need instead is a stern reminder and warning but not an earful of shouting and screaming.

I know teachers that are constantly shouting at their students and it might work for the first time or two but after a while, the students will be numb to it.

Having patience is important to assert control over the class and to also keep your mind sane. Maybe I should write about what you can do when you’re facing certain problems later on in the future.

Find a Balance between being Nice and Being Strict

All of us wants to be the nice teacher that everybody loves but there is a fine line between being nice and being taken advantage of. Students would continuously test you on how you respond to situations and if they sense that they can get away with not doing homework or not having the right class etiquette, they will continue doing so.

What’s important here is to set clear boundaries of what’s acceptable and what’s not. Have clear rules and enforce them when they are broken. This ensures that students understand the expectations that you have for them.

It was a difficult lesson for me. There are classes that I was too nice in and it caused a lot of problems for me especially in terms of receiving back homework and for them to be attentive in class.

Painful lesson but much needed.

You realise that you care about their grades more than they do

Students should have the innate motivation to strive for good grades and be successful in school but unfortunately, not all students are like that.

There will be times when you realise that you actually care more about their grades than they do. Not because your end term review calls for it but instead because you truly want what’s best for them. Their grades are a reflection of how much they cared about school and what they prioritise. If they are not doing well, it might be clear signs that they are distracted and might consider your classes as unimportant (which isn’t true).

Therefore, it is important to highlight such cases early. It might not be your teaching that has failed them but rather they have their priorities mixed up.

There are students that are intelligent in everything but school. They know how to navigate social media and the web, they know what is trending and what’s important in the world today but have zero interest in school at all. Therefore, it is important to realign their goals to being school-centred and inform them of the importance of doing well in school (at least for compulsory schooling.)

Closing

Teaching comes with many trials just like every other career in the service sector. Further compounded with the weight of educating a whole generation, it might feel overwhelming at times. However, I think what I learnt is that it is a career that is full of blessings and satisfaction. Seeing your students have that eureka moment once they understood a concept is one of the best feelings ever.

There is still a lot for me to learn in this career and I cannot wait for what’s to come.

Do let me know if there’s anything that you’d want me to share! I’d love to!