5 minutes to go

It was the last activity of the day. Teacher guided the kids through the BM workbook activity. They were to match the pictures to the written words.

There must have been about 12 words, which is quite a bit considering the kids are not strong in BM. Teacher made it easier for the kids by replicating onto the whiteboard, the entire page of the workbook. Furthermore, teacher had drawn lines to match the pictures to the words.

So really, all the kids had to do was to copy the “answer” from the whiteboard. How hard is that? (Forget for a moment the fact that I don’t quite agree with kids just copying the answer. Was the learning objective really achieved?)

It started out fine. For about the first one or two minutes, the kids attempted it on their own. My son was using his knowledge of suku kata to decipher the words and match it to the picture. He managed to do 2 pictures when teacher announced, “You only have five minutes before the bell rings. So hurry up.” My son panicked! He shrieked! He couldn’t think straight anymore. He didn’t know which picture matched which word.

So I stepped in to help him. Very soon I was surrounded by 4 other kids also panicking. With high pitched voices, they were desperately trying to get my attention to help them complete their work.

“Aunty! Aunty! Help me! Which one does this match to? Which one?!!!”

“Aunty! Aunty! Aunty! Is this correct?”

“Aunty! Aunty! Quick! Quick! Tell me! Which one?!”

Normally, I do not just give the answer, whether it’s my son or another kid asking me because the child would have lost a learning opportunity. Instead, I guide them towards the answer.

But oh my gosh. I couldn’t guide them this time. Not when there were four of them (excluding my son) coming to me at the same time, all panicking. It was hilarious! It was like a scene from a slapstick comedy or kids’ cartoon.

I “surrendered” and got the teacher’s attention. The teacher quickly calmed them down by saying that it’s alright, and that they could continue the next day.

It reminded me of what happened at music class a few Saturdays ago. The kids were to replicate a pattern using magnetic seeds, as many times as possible, before a song finishes. It was so funny to see how the reacted when the tempo was increased. Panic! My son was doing his funny jumping motion, his hands were moving around really fast without really achieving anything, his brain was frozen!

If I were in his shoes, I would have done exactly the same thing – panic! It was very interesting to note that others react in the same manner.

My learning outcome from all this? Teach my son how to stay calm under time pressure. Easier said than done!