Time Management

Assalammualaikum and a very good day to all.....

In a lesson , time management is very crucial as it ensures that our pupils will learn from us . The key to having a good time management is very closely related to preparing enough activities to occupy the time that YOU have allocated in the stages of your lesson . If we have not prepared enough activities for the pupils , we will have the tendency to drag the lesson to occupy the time . When this happens , the class will go haywire as the rest of the class will start to drift into their own world .

 At the beginning of a lesson , the pupils are interested to learn . This is because they are anxious to know what their teacher has prepared for them . Maybe singing , role play , reading etc. In this stage , they will give their full attention towards the teacher , participate in the activities and answer questions asked . The teacher then gives an exercise for the pupils to do in the activity stage .

 

Pupils walking around and chi-chatting with friends

 But then , after a while , the pupils feel that the lesson has come to an end because they have completed the exercises that the teacher has given them and that is it ....no new tasks are given for them to do . The teacher herself  has turned her attention to the weak ones who are still struggling to complete their tasks .
So , what do the rest of the pupils do ? They FIND things to do to occupy their time ... things like walking around the class or playing 'batu seremban' in a group , on the floor , under their desks . The teacher is left on her own.

                                          Group playing under the table

One of the remedy for this situation is to prepare TWO activities for the pupils to carry out and ONE  additional activity  in case the excellent pupils finish early . This is one way to make sure that you will not get wet if it rains suddenly as you have an umbrella available .  Another remedy is to STICK TO YOUR LESSON PLAN ... if you have allocated five minutes to an activity , STOP if you have exceeded five minutes . Do NOT go on because you will steal a few minutes from your next stage and the next and the next until you noticed that the teacher for the next lesson is waiting to enter your classroom and you HAVE NOT finished your lesson YET . Be extra careful when it comes to time management because it is something which is invisible but the effects are pretty much visible .

Teacher trainees .....

Remember that you are among the selected few who were given the opportunity to undertake teacher training . From the tens of thousands of youngsters who applied....... a few thousands were called for interviews and the physical tests ... but only a few hundreds were given the chance to join the teaching profession .

Once you're here , please think of the others who did not get this chance . They would give away their hands and legs to be where you are now. You should be more thankful for this opportunity .

The odd thing was , instead of being thankful and study as hard as they could , SOME trainees tend to forget the purpose of being in a Teacher's college ... they get poor marks , play truant , didn't submit their assignments and / or failed their exams and / or practicum . This kind of attitude usually surfaces towards the end of their training . This has really been a mystery as to why it happened . What made them lose interest ...?

I did ask them the reason for joining teacher training and , sure enough , they blamed their parents, especially  mothers , who want them to become teachers . Personally , i can't say anything . It's your life and your choice . One thing is for sure though ....If you are kind to your parents , God will be kind to you . Listen to them. They know best . I have friends who , at one moment in time , were forced to become teachers by their parents .... They are now excellent teachers and they have children who are excellent teachers as well .

There's no shame because it's a noble profession ...be proud of being a teacher .