I received a call recently from my secondary school regarding my application on relief teaching. Apparently, and somewhat tentatively also, I will be taking three English Classes: a Secondary 1 class, a Secondary 3 Normal Academic class and a secondary 3 Express class.
My apprehension is the secondary 1 and secondary 3 N(A) class. Basically, I cannot remember what I did for English in secondary 1 other than waiting for the bell to ring and the lesson to be over. The lesson was trite and very much disorganised. I remembered having three English teachers when I was in Secondary 1. For the secondary 3 N(A) class, well obviously, I have had no prior experience in such an academic stream so my apprehension is how to tailor a programme that best suits them and yet can be considered enriching on their part.
Things like Grammar, Language Use, Essays and Comprehension skills and techniques are very much what we learn for English yet, I just cannot picture myself standing in front of a class and telling them about the rules of Grammar. Even I could not even stand such lessons!
Currently, I am in the process of developing my own materials for teaching. I must say that in this process, I find myself constantly thinking of the student's reaction to my materials. It is quite a cathartic effect to some extent, however.
Oh well!
