No pain, no gain

Alhamdulillah, I'm back to school and it's back to the grindstone, folks. It's time to oil up the rusty teaching cogs and kick start the learning mechanism. It is great to be reunited with wonderful colleagues and beloved students but the work schedule is as hectic as ever. I'm teaching all the Form Four classes and 5KN this year. My eyes almost popped out of the socket when I saw the number of students in 4SN1. 63 students! They had to use the lecture hall in order to accommodate such large number of students. It's maddening but I've been informed that the class will be splitted into two by next week. Now that's a relief!

 This year would be challenging as the Form Four will be using the new English Literature Component and it would be intriguing to see their feedback on the literary texts. So far, I'm glad with the students' enthusiasm although I think I've scared them a wee bit with the workload that they have to endure this year. Knowing that they need to write 350 word-essay shook them to their core but I'm sure they are aware that it all goes back to the old adage ; no pain, no gain :)

Albeit constant workload, I still believe that it is vital for the teachers to have fun in teaching. Fun, teaching? Yeah, it's shocking I know . True, our education system is pretty much exam-oriented but it's not a good excuse not to instill the element of fun in our lessons to encourage maximum engagement from the students. We can't change the wind but we can always adjust the sail :)

It doesn't hurt to ask for help and learn from your students too :)