I was nervous all week about my teaching debut.
What if the students didn't like me? What if I couldn't explain myself properly or clearly? And most importantly – what if I was boring?
With its little symbols and many rules, shorthand is probably not the most exciting subject, and I wondered how I could make it interesting for 11 and 12-year-olds.
Shorthand is a writing and note-taking system taught to budding reporters and also formerly at schools around the country.
The days leading up to last Friday afternoon were filled with perusing my old university shorthand book trying to find some useful symbols and asking friends on Facebook and Twitter what their favourite outlines were.
How in-depth should I go? What about all those finicky rules? The words of my own shorthand tutor ring in my head: Never, ever, ever join an R and a D.
Perhaps I should go back and explain how I got myself into this situation.
I had been talking with one of the teachers a few weeks ago about taking a class one day to see what it might be like on the frontline of teaching.
She and Bohally Intermediate's new principal Andrew Reid both welcomed the idea.
Shorthand seemed to be the only thing I was qualified and knowledgeable enough about to be able to share my wisdom.
Friday afternoon came around like a shot and it was time to step into the classroom and show what I had. Room 9's pupils were the unwitting subjects of my experiment.
They sat quietly at their desks with not a sign of fatigue on a Friday afternoon. They were very obliging and seemed interested and entertained by what I had to show.
There were also a lot of intelligent questions and even a sigh of disappointment half-way through the alphabet when one student had to leave for an extra-curricular activity.
There was a look of amazement during a race with a student when I had finished the symbol for the word "Before" and he was only up to writing the first "e".
I probably underestimated their thirst for knowledge and maturity. The students had understood everything I had said and had picked up all the outlines I showed them including my favourite one – the word animal.
The students asked me questions afterwards, wanting to know how to write their names in shorthand and how to write some of the words on their spelling list.
So the big question is – did I make a good teacher? According to Room 9 teacher Rachael Moran, the answer is yes.
But you'd have to ask the kids.
- The Marlborough Express
SIMON WONG
via mobile 02:33 pm Nov 09 2011 Well done Simon!
Go Simon. Give up reporting and take up teaching. Kids need more male teachers - especially ones who make great role models. Well done
Well done Simon, great work.
No comments:
Post a Comment