Pleasantly Surprised and Delightfully Enlightened
I'm very surprised and delighted by the number of responses I got from you girls for my "Good Student List" - There are 26 responses! Apart from feeling flattered by all the nice things you say about me *blushes*, I must say that I find the comments more and more interesting as I read on. Not only did many of you begin your comments with the newly acquired phrase "I completely and utterly agree with you", the comments take an interesting turn and there is this whole new discussion of a "Good Teacher List"! *chuckles* It is really a pleasure to see so many of you willing to share your thoughts with me. Thank you so much.
I must thank Candy Chung for explaining to me why you always whisper among yourself when you have questions instead of asking me. Now I feel much better knowing that it is not because I am so scary that you do not want to talk to me but because you do not want to break the class rule of speaking only in English in class (even though whispering among yourself, no matter how softly you do it, is still breaking the rule, in case you didn't notice *winks*.) Why don't we make a pact here and now? Let's promise that, from now on, you won't ask for my permission to speak in Cantonese unless you ABSOLUTELY NEED TO, that there is really no way you can express whatever you want to say in English. And instead of saying no, I'll let you speak in Cantonese. Understanding the lessons is as important as practising your spoken English. Let's see how this work out.
Esther points out that Mr. Leung always suggests that, as good students, you should try to find the answers yourself. I "completely and utterly agree" with him. Good students should be curious and interested in whatever they are learning enough to spend time thinking about it and this is how they can come up with questions to ask. However, having a question doesn't mean that they should rely on other people for the answers. Just like the story of the discovery of gravity, Newton started to wonder why things fell down instead of going up to the sky after his head was hit by an apple. At the end, because of this question, he made one of the greatest discovery in the history of science - the gravity. Of course, it is doubtful how true this story is, but it's a nice example to show you that asking questions is good for your learning and it's not necessary for you to rely on your elders to give you the answer– actually, we all know how often we "elders" don't always have the answers. If you rely on others in your learning, the best you can get is just to be as good as those "others" you rely on. You can never surpass them. We teachers have been told to teach our students "how to catch fish themselves" rather than just "catching all the fish" for them. If not, after we're gone, you'll "starve to death". (Have you heard this metaphor before?)
Janice mentions that we shouldn't label students as being good or bad as good students can become bad easily and bad students can become good if only they are given a chance. I think this is a very good point. Janice, I don't think your stance "strange" at all. This is a very good insight. To come to think about it, my question is too naïve. What is a "good" person and what is a "bad" one anyway? A person can be "bad" to some people but very "good" to the others. A criminal is of course bad to their victims but they can be very good parents. A person can be good now but then becomes bad a month or so later. We can't tell for sure until we return to our Maker, can we? No wonder the Bible keeps telling us not to judge the others.
Tiffany mentions that not only students should learn to admit their mistakes but teachers, too. However, she also understands that it is very difficult for teachers to do so and it takes additional courage for them to be able to do it. Thank you, Tiffany, for being so understanding. Actually, the process of learning is never-ending, is it? Children learn, teenagers learn and so do adults. Aren't we all learning a bit of something new every day? I certainly have learnt something interesting from what you girls' wrote. Actually, the way I see it, adults are not much different from teenagers at heart - just that are older and seasoned with experiences. *winks*
As I said, your comments are all very interesting and many are enlightening. I've learnt a lot from you. Thanks again for sharing your thoughts with me. Let's do that more often, shall we?
I must thank Candy Chung for explaining to me why you always whisper among yourself when you have questions instead of asking me. Now I feel much better knowing that it is not because I am so scary that you do not want to talk to me but because you do not want to break the class rule of speaking only in English in class (even though whispering among yourself, no matter how softly you do it, is still breaking the rule, in case you didn't notice *winks*.) Why don't we make a pact here and now? Let's promise that, from now on, you won't ask for my permission to speak in Cantonese unless you ABSOLUTELY NEED TO, that there is really no way you can express whatever you want to say in English. And instead of saying no, I'll let you speak in Cantonese. Understanding the lessons is as important as practising your spoken English. Let's see how this work out.
Esther points out that Mr. Leung always suggests that, as good students, you should try to find the answers yourself. I "completely and utterly agree" with him. Good students should be curious and interested in whatever they are learning enough to spend time thinking about it and this is how they can come up with questions to ask. However, having a question doesn't mean that they should rely on other people for the answers. Just like the story of the discovery of gravity, Newton started to wonder why things fell down instead of going up to the sky after his head was hit by an apple. At the end, because of this question, he made one of the greatest discovery in the history of science - the gravity. Of course, it is doubtful how true this story is, but it's a nice example to show you that asking questions is good for your learning and it's not necessary for you to rely on your elders to give you the answer– actually, we all know how often we "elders" don't always have the answers. If you rely on others in your learning, the best you can get is just to be as good as those "others" you rely on. You can never surpass them. We teachers have been told to teach our students "how to catch fish themselves" rather than just "catching all the fish" for them. If not, after we're gone, you'll "starve to death". (Have you heard this metaphor before?)
Janice mentions that we shouldn't label students as being good or bad as good students can become bad easily and bad students can become good if only they are given a chance. I think this is a very good point. Janice, I don't think your stance "strange" at all. This is a very good insight. To come to think about it, my question is too naïve. What is a "good" person and what is a "bad" one anyway? A person can be "bad" to some people but very "good" to the others. A criminal is of course bad to their victims but they can be very good parents. A person can be good now but then becomes bad a month or so later. We can't tell for sure until we return to our Maker, can we? No wonder the Bible keeps telling us not to judge the others.
Tiffany mentions that not only students should learn to admit their mistakes but teachers, too. However, she also understands that it is very difficult for teachers to do so and it takes additional courage for them to be able to do it. Thank you, Tiffany, for being so understanding. Actually, the process of learning is never-ending, is it? Children learn, teenagers learn and so do adults. Aren't we all learning a bit of something new every day? I certainly have learnt something interesting from what you girls' wrote. Actually, the way I see it, adults are not much different from teenagers at heart - just that are older and seasoned with experiences. *winks*
As I said, your comments are all very interesting and many are enlightening. I've learnt a lot from you. Thanks again for sharing your thoughts with me. Let's do that more often, shall we?
posted by Ada Lam at
4:39 PM
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