to ma'am with love

today's the last day of the teaching semester.

i always look forward to it because that means the holidays are beckoning, but it's also a bitter-sweet feeling as i say goodbye to the kids in my classes. the 2 subjects i'm currently teaching are core modules for most of the courses. but with over 1,300 students taking the subjects, it's unlikely that i'll be teaching the same students again.

this week i handed out the teaching evaluation forms to my classes for them to provide feedback (to the school) about my teaching. to be fair and totally objective, i'll always appoint someone to collect the forms and seal them in the envelopes before taking them back.

some of the kids laugh and even insist on showing me their comments and remarks but i always tell them to seal the envelope. however, once i'm back in my middle-earth inspired cubicle, i'd occasionally sneak a peak at what's been written. (since the responses are anonymous, there's no danger of me penalising students for giving me terrible feedback or giving extra marks to those who sing my praises.)

i'm human after all - plus, as curious as any cat on this planet:

i usually receive positive feedback, with mostly "strongly agree"s and some "agree"s.

"Understands us well."
"A very caring and understanding teacher."
"Very patient."
"The best teacher here!"
"Bonds well with us."
"Approachable, friendly and understanding."
"More like a mentor"
"Bestest best"
"Elaborates well and provides many examples to illustrate the points."
"Tries to make the lesson interesting always - even though the subject can be boring."
"We love you!"

:)

i've been blessed with wonderful classes so far. of course, i've had to deal with a handful of dreadful "unsavoury" characters (though thankfully they are a rare minority).

a few of the kids even paid a little tribute to me in their graded oral presentations - knowing that i'm a HUGE lotr fan, a few of them incorporated pictures/soundtracks of the movie in their slides and used them as examples in their presentation! (if they wanted to get my attention, they REALLY did!)

two classes even took class pictures after the presentation, and i was treated like a celebrity as the groups jostled to take photos with me. i felt sooooooooooooo honoured.

ah. much as i may not want to admit it, i will miss some of them.

i may not be the world's best teacher, but i certainly believe i'm in the right profession.