On my first day at the orphanage, I was a little nervous. I'd been given a headsup on the fact that some of the kids might be reluctant to join the lessons, so the thought of awkward silence somewhat worried me.
The warning was true. During the English lesson, most of the boys in the class were quite shy; of the whole class, there was only one or two active students. Nonetheless, given my previous tutoring experience and my outgoing personality, I tried to get the class to spell the words in unison, with the purpose of getting everyone to sound their voices. I managed to gradually break the barrier between teacher and students, raising their confidence by means of encouragement. I focused on those who didn't participate much and complimented them when they made an effort. It could have something to do with the fact that I always smile and jump around a lot that the atmosphere in the classroom soon lightened up...
This experience has again challenged me and brought me out of my comfort zone. It occurred to me that teaching is not merely an act of transferring knowledge, but is also an establishment of bonding between the teacher and the students. A good teacher cannot solely be knowledgeable in his/her area, but also has to be creative and encouraging in terms of teaching method. It seems the lost girl who went to Long Hoa orphanage today to teach the boys new vocabulary on directions - she headed home the right way.
