The year commenced with Vision Day on January first. It has been wonderful to begin the year with the Pastor's opening word and encouragement. This year's theme is "Seeing with God's eyes" and I think that includes hearing with his eyes and feeling as he feels too. That's a high call because we are sinners saved by Grace and by his grace, he enables us to see, hear and feel his heart beat for us and people around us.
I returned to school, anticipating the class and students I will get for the year. I was given a P3 class (40 middle to high ability). It was daunting at first, thinking that I have 80 sets of English and Math work to mark every other day! I grumbled and complained, comparing myself to the other teachers who are also on Flexi scheme. In fact, my time table is no less than any regular full time teacher. I was even scorned by another colleague who told me that I was "stupid" enough to accept the offer.
God made all that change for me in 3 short weeks!
My time table remains the same and my class of 40 is no less. But, all thanks and praise be to God, the class of 40 students made all the difference in my day to day life. They are a wonderful lovable bunch of kids who have since captured my heart. They are well behaved and teachable, as much as they can and try to be. My class rules are 3R - Respect, Responsible and Resilience. Rules were set in place from day 1, and overtime, reminding and drilling in them what it all means, now make sense rules are here to stay, to bring about a more caring and conducive environment for learning to take place. Now, I look forward to see them everyday, seeing their smiles make my day worth all the hard work.
I know 40 is a large number. On my own, I will not have the capacity. But with God's help, I know he will empower me to love and enjoy teaching this class. In his divine appointment, I sat down with one of the kids and had a chat with her and found out, to my surprise she comes from a family of 8! This is very unusual for a Singapore Chinese family. She has 5 other siblings and she's right in the middle. Her family struggles to make ends meet. I was moved to give her snacks every day. So we have a quiet engagement. I would pass her the snack I brought and she would return me the container discreetly. I feel happy doing this for her, knowing now that she wouldn't be left out because she has no snack in class. (students have snack time everday for 10 mins and they would munch on what they bring from home)
I started Newsflash with my primary 2 class last yr and I have decided to continue with the culture of sharing news in class. I sat the kids down on the floor at the back of the classroom, and I look through a cut out space in the middle of a cardboard I made that looks like a TV. On the contrary to the feedback from my children saying that 9 yrs old would think it childish, my class actually enjoys it very much. It is a bonding time, sharing about things that happen beyond their familiar environment, enlarging their microscopic view of the world at large.
I pray that God will give me more opportunities to reach out and bless others around me, despite my heavy work load or busy time table, I can still have the energy to see, hear and feel his heart beat for his people. I hear of things changing for term 2, but I pray hard that I can stay with this class for a longer period of time. In God's timing and for his glory.