Frost Baby

Guess what!!! I found a letter that is written by Mrs Toh (My ex Form cum English teacher) in 17th of march Straits Times forum. COOL!!!

Here it is:

March 17, 2005
Why some dedicated teachers call it a day

FOR a long time, my husband and I have kept our grievances as teachers to dinners with our colleagues.
It is difficult to share our woes and sorrows with non-teachers, who assume that we have long holidays, short working hours and a fat pay cheque. It just does not appear to those outside our circle that our job is anything but that.
Having left teaching after five years of service, I think it is time to set the record straight.
It is true that a handful of teachers do get away with doing very little work. These are the ones who skive and squirm their way out of any responsibility bestowed upon them. In every profession, there is bound to be black sheep and teaching is no exception. The truth is, for the rest of us, teaching is a lot of hard work and heartache.
Planning lessons that are engaging, effective and still 'cover' the syllabus is challenging for a 35-period week with three or four classes a day. Research needs to be done, resources compiled, notes and worksheets prepared and printed.
The actual lesson itself is more draining than the preparation. Teachers are always on 'high alert' in the classroom - discipline problems to handle (ranging from not doing homework to defiance, stealing and, in very rare cases, fighting); rapport to build, which is ongoing (students are not going to learn if they all hate us!).
Having to handle different sets of 40 or more students in a day's work - where we need to punish and reward, scold and joke with, teach and ensure learning takes place, enforce rules and impart moral values, rein in the egoistic students and give the shy ones confidence - is a daunting task.
Every comment we make may affect a student's self-esteem, desire to learn, willingness to cooperate with us, goals and ambitions for the future. The truth is we would never know the impact of our reprimands or words of encouragement.
Beyond the classroom, there are still the CCAs, department and committee work that demand our time and energy to plan, coordinate, implement and monitor.
School programmes and events like camps and concerts are essential to the holistic development of our students but these add on to our already very heavy workload, which is teaching itself.
Parents are a whole new category of problems for teachers. Most are supportive but a few problematic ones can cause a lot of pain for us. Some expect teachers to be on call 24/7; others threaten and abuse us when they do not get their way. Some think that we are miracle workers who can turn failures into distinctions overnight; others just treat us as agony aunts.
On top of all these, we need to answer to our heads of department and principals when it comes to 'producing' the number of passes or distinctions.
Teachers teaching the graduating classes are often made out to be the heroes or sinners when the results are released. The pressure is overwhelming. 'Results are not everything' is a myth!
Despite all these woes, I had no regrets going into teaching. I have had the privilege of getting to know a few batches of fantastic students at Hwa Chong Junior College and Fuhua Secondary School, who still keep in touch with me. They were the reason I decided to teach in the first place and they were definitely the highlight of my teaching career.
The truth is, teachers are no saints. They have only 24 hours a day just like any one of us, yet their responsibilities and duties are so demanding that their family life and their physical and emotional health are sometimes compromised.
And I believe that, at the end of the day, teachers who left did so not because they stopped believing in what they did but rather they believed in it so strongly that they did not think they could accomplish all that without making any compromise in the other areas of their lives.

Elaine Toh-Tan Yee Lin (Mrs)