For Students

Recently, I’m being labeled as ‘38’(busybody) by student and. I understand why the student/students label me like that, but I’m here to try to let others understand why I’m doing all that...

From the most basic view, students will do something which break the school rules, as a teacher, I just being responsible to take action on those students. Although I’m not a discipline teacher, I still have the right and responsibility to be aware of students’ discipline. Moreover, the teachers who are supposed to do their job, they are not really doing their jobs well enough! So for the sake of the school, I took extra effort and initiative to do it and I'm also being responsible.

But what is more important is, why do I want to do all that? For some students, obviously it’s busybody because they don’t like it. For me, firstly, I was a bad students last time, I’ve been through the process and iIreally hope my students don’t repeat my mistakes. Secondly, I strongly believe that a lot of disaster and problem in our world and society is because of the selfishness of the human being and not enough understanding between people. Just a simple example, you can see a lot of people who are very rich but their character is like shit, I don’t wish to see anymore disaster and I don’t want my students to be a selfish person like those morons, that’s why i’m very passionate in EDUCATE my students. Some teachers maybe don't care about your character but I care. You prefer teacher who let you rot? Well I'm really sorry to say that I can't make it...

Students, for simple thing like cutting queue, you don’t like teacher nag/scold you on that, but did you try to understand the teachers and others students feeling? If we don’t bother, more and more students will feel unhappy and think “they can do, why can’t I? Teachers don’t care also”. Even some who didn't think like that, do you think they are happy with it? You want teacher to care for your feelings, then did you care for others feeling? Small bad habit can bring disaster in your later life and also to others..

By doing all that, what I’ve got? Some teachers will think I try to override their power and they'll talk bad about me; more and more students will hate me because they don’t like teacher to scold them; my supervisor will say “we are counselors, we try not to be so harsh to students”. But the fact is some teacher not doing their jobs well and I want to educate my students, I don’t want you all to develop bad character and learn to  think of other people. Do you think I feel good in facing all that situations? To balance all that, I try to use more different ways from discipline teacher or principal, I try to advice first and so on, but not many students will just listen when I talk nicely. That’s why it made me become more fierce than before.

I’m not saint, I can’t be sure that I can control my temper every minute every second, but I know I didn’t do anything which is wrong according to rules.

From what happened recently, I realize it would be better for me to adjust my way of doing things like last time, I try to be as ‘counselor’ as I can. But i’m still very passionate in educating my students and I’m still a human being...

Counseling Speech 2

This is the content of my speech during the assembly on 9th of November 2010 (if not mistaken):

......Today, i have an experience to share. I think you, students, often hear teachers talking about good students and bad students. But i know students also talk about good teachers and bad teachers. So for me, am i being label as a a good teacher or a lousy teacher? I experienced both. Some students told me, “Mr.Fredy, you are a good teacher”; at the same time, you can read at the 3rd floor prep hall’s whiteboard which says “Lousy counselor, we don’t need you Freddy Chan, get lost from our school” (Although they spell my name wrongly, but i don’t think they are mentioning another person). So what is a good teacher & what is a lousy teacher? When a teacher do things in a way you like, he/she is a good teacher; when a teacher scolds you, do things the way you don’t like, then that teacher is a bad teacher, that’s what i observed.

Anyway, that’s not the main thing i wanna talk about today. What i really want to share is about emotional management. As i mentioned just now, students write something unfavorable to me. At first, i was really angry. Although i’m a counselor, i know my rights as a teaching staff and i was thinking of taking disciplinary action on those students. But i didn’t do that, because i thought that maybe i should take this opportunity to reflect on myself first. So I thought, although i did nothing wrong, but as a counselor i can use other approaches instead of scolding students. I’ve taken this opportunity to try to improve myself instead of just to taking action on students to get back my rights, or pride, to relieve my anger. Students might stop doing nonsense out of fear but did i fulfill my job as a educator? When I lose my temper and scold students or speak harshly with students, this may distant students from me, and i won’t be able to fulfill my job as a counselor, because students may not feel comfortable to share things with me when they need. More over, if i’m being emotional and ‘swallow’ their words saying, “we don’t need you”, i might give up the job, giving up on the majority students by listening to just some minority voices. These are some of my reflections.

So for you students, when your friends say bad things to you, call you names, or when your teacher scolds you; instead of getting angry and fight back, do you try to reflect on yourself, and try to improve yourself? Or you just say that person is lousy, talk back to teachers, call other names which you yourself don’t like it, or to pick a fight. By doing all that, you might relieve your anger temporarily, but does it do you any further good? Or actually it bring you more harm later, and let the negative power cycle around?

I want to dedicate my words especially to those students who are going to graduate. I hope besides being successful in your academic, and maybe sports, you’ll also learn to improve your character. Learn to reflect on yourself. You might think all your attitude is ok for you for now, or even in your college years. But in the future, when you still don’t try to learn how to reflect on yourself and change, you might bring damage to yourself. So later when you go back to the prep hall and see those words, instead of laughing at it, i hope you can think about what i’ve said. Think about it not for me, but for yourself.

Last thing before I finish my speech. Maybe you’ll hear about rumors about another person, but before you clarify, please don’t take others opinion as a fact and believe it. Even you yourself, sometimes believe in something without clarifying the whole thing. Things happened before where students fight because his friend is saying something about another person, which is not true, or not the whole truth, and turns out that students believe it and fight back with the innocent students. Maybe you don’t want to listen to me right now, but in the future when you really face some difficult situation, i hope you still can remember what i’ve said. Good luck for your exam, and good luck for your future!

Are all teachers educators?

One of the most difficult situation as a teacher is other teachers don't give cooperation in helping students and not doing their jobs..

Sometimes we just tell ourselves don't care about others, just do our jobs well, but it'll raise misunderstandings: students will say we're busybodies; some "smart people" will say we're politicking, polish superiors' shoes...

I don't know whether my passion will be exhausted by all these misunderstandings one day, but i wanna tell the world, especially to those "smart people", my passion is still burning!

(Why "smart people"? Because they are smart in enjoying their lives, not like us, taking students problems like our own problem, stupid isn't it?)