I had never been working as a head teacher before until one day last August when I went to Principal Huang to apply for a head teacher position. After a series of competing processes, finally I came out as one of the four winners. As a result, I became head teacher of Class 17 Senior 2. However, I held that post for only two weeks before we went through our first Big Division, a thorough one to separate science students from literal art students.

I was assigned to act as head teacher of Class 14, a literal art class. From that day on, Class 14 became my arena where I could fully display my talents, where I could show who I am and what I could do, and where I could do whatever I want to do, as was said by a vice principal—Mr. Lee on a Head teacher Experiences Exchange Forum. But it turned out this theory couldn’t stand the test of time and practice. A simple fact is that you just can’t treat your class and your students as your private possessions. Students are live and they are living creatures; they can breathe; they can talk; they have their own minds; they have their own ways to deal with things; they have their different outlooks towards everything and towards this world; sometimes they would air their own opinions, or maybe sometimes they’ll argue heatedly with you or even quarrel with you; they are challenging your patience and your authority as a boss, which no doubt will displease or even anger you. Here I am not trying to prove what Mr. Lee said was wrong. I am just saying: to manage a class well is by no means an easy job.

Today I still clearly remember the scene when I was giving my first class meeting to Class 14 students. I spoke a lot. I talked about why students were in school, why they should study hard, for whom they were studying and how they could work more effectively. Also I told them class discipline to keep and obey and my great hopes for every one of them. I noticed most students were listening attentively because this was their first time to face their new boss and to judge him by what he was speaking. Inevitably, one or two students were just sitting there, absent-minded, eyes dim and dull. Especially one student who were sitting in a corner of the back row attracted my eyes. His eyes looked dim and dull and sleepy, the kind of eyes that told you that he is not a student interested in his lessons.

 to be continued