Teaching is a quite difficult task, no matter what you teach. Many people overlook the harshness of making others learn, and I was one of those people. Going through nine and a half years of education, I'd thought that I could teach much better than the teachers. That was the reason I applied to GLPS, the camp which is held in my school every twice a year. I was very confident, because I considered teaching as an easy affair. Furthermore, the subject I teach was history, which is my favorite.
On a Sunday of July, students shuffled in, and I was enormously excited by the expectation. I was busy planning the schedule, and contents I was going to teach. On Tuesday, the first lecture began.
I thought I taught quite well on that day. I explained the term Middle Ages, which was the era students were designated to learn, and several important keywords related to the Medieval, such as knighthood, feudalism, Catholics, and Pope. I was satisfied, regardless of the confused eyes of the young students, when the oldest one was only fourteen.
What I was planned to achieve was to make students write a term paper in a couple of weeks. Thus, my co-teacher and I instructed them the method of researching and writing. For we have only two weeks, which means we had to finish papers in 8 classes, I had to teach as much as I could in an hour. My tongue twisted eagerly, my hand couldn't follow my words, and students did not ask any question. I was delighted, for I thought they'd gotten everything.
Thus, I was greatly shocked when one of the co-employees of the camp told me that the students thought my lectures were difficult and my explanation was inadequate. From then on, I was able to focus on my students' behavior. I was shocked again. My students couldn't get the chance to ask question, because my words were to fast and difficult for them. They were embarrassed and confused, and they couldn't write anything on their notebooks, and this phenomenon was followed by poor-quality assignments they submitted. I tried to be different, but it was too late, and only a half of week was left.
At the end, the frustration occurred by the thought of being a poor teacher. However, another turnabout happened. When I announced the students the farewell and apologizing with mentioning the critics of my teaching, the students denied, and gave me a big applaud. One of the student told me to stay longer in the camp, and another said that she will come again for the winter camp. I tried not to show my emotion but I was both sad and happy. During the camp, when the teaching was too harsh, I wondered why some people are so eager to be teachers. I could get that on the very last day. Teaching did not only give a teacher exhaustion and depression but also the sympathy and memories with the students.
