interesting class

this week's class, much like last week, was very interesting. there was a conflict. and it involved a student and a teacher. and tempers flared. and things got physical. it was fortunate that it occurred at the end of the lesson. i held on tight to the student, cooled the teacher down (although the teacher insisted that she was not angry), dismissed the rest of the class and got the situation under control. ended up counselling the student and later, the teacher about how things could have been better managed.

hmmm... anger is a dangerous thing. if you allow it to control you, you will be a goner. calming onself is a lot easier said than done. this is especially so if one is a teenager and full of angst. and as an adult, it is not a good idea to use one's own experience with teenagers from other countries as the benchmark. it is not fair to the teenager. rather, it is necessary to recognise that every teenager is an individual. every one has his/ her own strength and individuality. one should also not brand the teenager based on his/ her past. teenagers change with time much faster than adults. what he/ she is today might not be what she/ he was last year. give him/ her a chance. two chances. many chances. not easy. not easy. a lot of patience needed.

ón the whole, it has been an interesting few weeks since i start volunteering. and thankfully, being new, i can get away sharing less rosy observations about the more experienced teachers to them. they are very accepting so far. i certainly have a lot more to learn from them. thus far, i have been able to contribute. but one thing i can sense, teaching is easy, but it is the people-people inter-relations & management that are more tricky.