Reflection on MYE...

10 out of 28 students passed the MYE after adding the marks for their daily assignments and tests. This is the same figure as the number of students who had been highlighted and were supposed to do A Math end last year by Hwee Hwee. Hmm, I didn't do too bad then.

The rest of the students did not do very well. It was PAINFUL that one student scored zero upon 70 marks for both his papers, despite SRP and afternoon one-to-one sessions, especially after he came back from his overseas basketball trip just to make sure that he could grasp what he had missed out.

Some students in the 2/3 of the class who failed had already given up on the subject totally. In fact, one of my students' test marks are just like binary codes: 0-1-0-1. On one occasion when she left school earlier because she was unwell, she was reluctant to take the retest and told me to just write her name and give her a zero. No attempt to even try. Sad.

A check with their E Math teacher revealed that only 3 passed their MYE. OMG. If these students are not even handling their rudimentary mathematics well, how are they going to learn and do well with additional mathematics skills? I worry for them and wonder if this is the right approach to help them: just give them a subject that they cannot handle so that we keep these students in the class (instead of having them loiter around in the school) and not providing them a choice in what subject to take based on their competencies/interests?

I love to teach Mathematics and want to do it well. At the same time, I want to spend my time and effort on students who are really keen to learn and do A Math. So, I proposed to my students before school closed to think through if they want to continue to work hard for the subject. If they do, they would have to complete the 126 questions from their workbooks and submit when school reopens. They also have to pay attention during lessons, bring their notebooks all the time and submit all their work on time. Otherwise, I'll get them to sit at the back of the class where they can do their revision for other subjects silently on their own and not disturb other classmates. In this way, I can better devote my time and effort on students who wish to master A Math well and those who have no interest in A Math can channel their energy to other critical subjects that they are not so good in.

Oh ya, they also have to submit the letter to their parents (to let the latter know what work their child has to do) with signatures together with their holiday homejoy. Looking forward to seeing them put effort in their own work and stop waiting for me to provide answers all the time. Also hoping that they will hand in their work promptly from next term onwards and not let me 'beg' them for work. I always tell them, "I'm a teacher, not a beggar".