The world of Tzu Chi Nov-Dec 2022 (Vol.144)

TZU CHI 144 13 children enrolled for the “i ∙ didik” programme in English. They were at different levels – one relatively good; the second was more disobedient and paid little attention while the third could not even understand ABC. When the children did not follow instructions and she sensed herself losing her temper, she would instantly adjust her mood by taking deep breaths, reminding herself to be calm and patient and not to give up. She smiled, “It is also a type of spiritual training and practice.” Hajah, who had the worst attendance rate among the three, also often missed online lessons arranged by the school during lockdown period. It was discovered that the girl came froma single- parent family. Her younger brother suffered from hydrocephalus and needed frequent hospital visits and special care. Her mother only had one mobile phone, which the three daughters took turns using it for online lessons. When the brother was admitted, the mother would take the phone with her and the girls would have no access to the online classes. Later, the volunteers applied for a phone with a data package for them, and that solved the problem. Since it was Teacher Ow’s first teaching experience, she did not have any prior teaching materials. She would spend two hours preparing for a 90-minute lesson weekly. Although it was convenient getting information off the Internet, time was needed to filter and select the most suitable teaching material. In addition to the regular classes, Teacher Ow provided extra tutoring to Hajah, reading the Peter & Jane series three times a week. Watching the child read aloud on the screen, Teacher Ow smiled. When the child made a mistake, she would gently correct her. Through the half-hourly reading sessions, the child had unknowingly picked up over 200 new words within half a year. When she returned to school for physical classes, her teacher was amazed by her progress and asked, “How did you make such huge improvements?” Hajah shared the comment received with Teacher Ow, and said excitedly, “I felt like a pro!” Teacher Ow found that teaching was beneficial to her, too. She was happy to be able to make use of the technology to conduct lessons anytime, anywhere. Once, upon witnessing her conducting online lesson in the car, her son said, “I want to be like Mum when I retire.” Teacher Ow was pleased that she had led by example and had influenced her family to have kind thoughts of helping others. Seeing Hajah’s progress, Teacher Ow shared humbly, “I am not perfect, neither were my grades. Hence, I can empathize with children who are not academically strong.” She knew that children with different levels of understanding needed different teaching approaches. For example, when Hajah began learning English, she could not even recognize the 26 letters, often confusing the L with the R. Teacher Ow knew that she needed repetitive exercises. Instead of expecting the child to have a photogenic memory, she encouraged the child to work harder, to repeat it several times a week until she could memorize most of the new vocabularies. With her patience and perseverance, keeping her lessons short and constantly encouraging rather than criticizing the students, the children could connect with her well. Teacher Ow said, “Hajah gave me a great sense of accomplishment, proving that if I could do it, so could she.” “i ∙ didik” Programme