Had a heart-to-heart talk with one of my PSLE darlings today.
She hates Maths. Today, I further confirmed that she really can't take Maths at all. She went to the extent of copying from the answer key, only leaving out some insignificant parts from the answers. I flipped through the pages and saw that most of the questions were right and thought that she might have 'woken up' and decided to put in effort. I only sensed that something was amiss when I realized that I was ticking all the way from the start till the end of the paper. It was a top school paper. It was far beyond her ability even if she had tried her best. I guess, unconsciously I showed my unhappiness. Having been my student for 2 years, she sensed my displeasure. She sheepishly explained that her friend had taught her some of the questions and that friend got 81 for recent exam. At that point of time, I was so angry, I could have flared up anytime.
I wanted to reprimand her straight away but thought that it wasn't fair. I was once a student who didn't like Maths because just couldn't understand it. I carried on with lesson and pretended that I believed her. But I seriously didn't want her to repeat her mistake again. This reflected a problem in her attitude and not her inability to know Maths. I decided to use the soft approach knowing how stubborn and dishonest she can get if I had opened fire at her. Mind you, she is a very prideful young lady. Surprisingly, she kept quiet throughout the time I was lecturing her. I indirectly told her that I knew that she had copied her work and that it isn't a right thing to do. I explained to her as patiently as I could why she shouldn't have done that. From her eyes I could see that she understood and regretted what she had done. This isn't the first time I had done this to her. There was another incident when I lectured her too. She never did made that mistake again. I hope she genuinely realized her mistake this time too and take the right path from now on.
I don't scold students who are slow or less brainy, as I was once like them. I wasn't some EM1 geek once upon a time. I was such a blur queen, my mum didn't expect anything from me. I'm happy that my parents had never once given up on me. I remember their efforts, vaguely. Always encouraging me to do my best even though, thinking back, I didn't really understand what they were saying. I was living in my own world, "dreaming" as my mum puts it.
Because of my own experience, I choose to believe that those who are much slower and less brainier will see light one day. Please do not give up on them. With the right guidance, they will be able to do it! Keep going!
Here's an impressive Disney Medley done by Nick Pitera! Enjoy it!
