End of school year.....

Well, we have just finished our school year here in New Zealand for the high schools and it was really interesting watching the students who did well go up to the stage to receive their certificates. I don't know about you teachers out there but I feel kind of proud if I have taught them this year. It was also good to watch those I have taught last year, too.

What we do here is we have a certain criteria to cross the stage. And students are not told until the very last day if they are going up the stage. I was sitting next to a top student of mine who knew he was not in the top 6 in his year but I guess he knew he just missed it and he mentioned to me he wished he knew what his GPA was. Most NZ schools do not go by GPA and our school used it as a measure to calculate the top students but we do not reveal to the students their GPA. Anyways, the principal decided to announce the few contenders who almost made it to the top 6 and had GPAs over 90%. It was really wonderful to watch how happy he was when his name was announced as he was one of the three students who was in the running.

It is really wonderful to watch your students achieve good results and you feel really satisfied that you have achieved something despite all the naughty kids who drive you nuts all through the year! Lots of times you wonder how their parents cope with them at home. You will be surprise to hear that some of them are like angels at home so much so that their parents cannot believe that the child you are describing is really their child! I mean ..... come on! Why do we take the time to call you and tell you your child's behaviour is not acceptable or have a bad attitude? We have better things to do with our lives and our time than to make up stories about your kids! Most school age children probably spend more awake time in school than at home. Thus for the few hours they see their parents they probably are smart enough to behave and get their parents into their pockets. Whereas their teachers, they only have to put up with them for a year at a time!

There are some lovely students though and they make your day and these are the ones you think of when you have a bad day! And even if they are not your students anymore, they still greet you whenever you pass them in the hallways or even outside school. They are also some wonderful little ones (we have students starting from age 11 onwards) who would greet you as you pass them and I have no idea who they are but it makes you feel good when you are acknowledged! We sometimes have to take relief classes and we also have an intermediate school even though I teach in high school. Immediately you pegged them as very polite and courteous students.

But overall, I am happy to be a teacher as a second career.......