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小年輕時期的事情了
Back then,
I had just started working in the industry and was still a clueless rookie teacher.
One day, I walked into the office, and the receptionist said, "The boss wants to see you."
"I don't know either," the receptionist replied.
I knocked on the office door and heard the boss say, "Come in."
I opened the door and asked, "Boss, you wanted to see me?"
The boss brewed a pot of tea and set the scene like he was about to have a chat with me. I was a bit nervous because he had pulled out his prized tea leaves and made me a special pot of tea.
"Yeah, there's been a complaint about you recently."
"What's going on?"
"They said your class isn't interesting enough."
I was immediately confused. "What? They're complaining about my class being boring?"
Seriously… The students I taught had improved by an average of 15 points on their latest test—a huge improvement!
Shouldn't I be getting an award instead of a complaint?
Could it be that I gave them too much homework, or maybe the pressure was too high?
"What do you think I should do to improve?"
The boss thought for a moment and then said, "Go knock on the math teacher's office door. Our math teacher is really popular with the students. They all say his classes are fun and interesting. Go pick his brain!"
I nodded and said, "Okay, thanks for the advice, boss. I'll go talk to him now."
I went to the front desk and told them I was stepping out to grab a drink.
I got two cups of black tea—one for me and one for the math teacher.
I knocked on the math teacher's door and asked, "Are you busy? Do you have a minute?"
The math teacher, who's a really nice guy, said he had time.
I handed him the tea.
"What's up?" he asked with a smile.
"Why the sudden kindness? You even bought me a drink."
I told him, "Well, the boss just called me into his office. Apparently, I got some complaints from students about my class being boring."
He gave me a half-smile and asked if there was anything he could do to help. "The boss said I should learn from you. He says you're really good at making classes fun."
The math teacher raised his eyebrows and said, "This is how our world works. Sometimes we're like entertainers. We need to add a little spice to students’ otherwise monotonous lives. Honestly, I'm not that great. I just tell a few cheesy jokes to get the students laughing. Once they relax, they're more engaged and ready to learn."
"Can you give me a concrete example?" I still wasn't quite sure what he meant.
"OK."
"Do you know why monkeys don't like parallel lines?" the math teacher asked. "What?" I thought to myself.
Is this some kind of riddle? This sounds tough. Boss, I really feel like I'm not Tang Sanzang (from Journey to the West), and I might not make it through the challenges. The first one already got me!
I thought for a few seconds but still couldn't figure it out.
"I don't get it. How are monkeys and parallel lines even related?" I said, confused.
"Because parallel lines never intersect, and there are no bananas, so monkeys don't like them." The math teacher said this with a straight face, delivering the cheesy joke.
"Hahahaha! Okay, I don't know if it's because I have a low sense of humor or if this guy really has a knack for it, but I couldn't help but laugh."
Alright then!
If it's about telling cheesy jokes like this, I guess I could give it a try.
Summary:
Maybe we all need to learn to focus on the task, not the person. After all, when the boss told me,
"You've been complained about by students for making your class boring,"
The first thought that popped into my head was,
"Who's the little troublemaker who complained about me?"
菜鳥時期
那時，我剛入補教業不久，還是個愣頭愣腦的小萌新老師
那天的天空──陰陰的，彷彿預示著一場大雨即將來臨。
步入公司大門時，櫃台的同事抬頭，看著我，語氣中帶著一絲神秘，說道
「老闆找你開會」
「喔？什麼事情？」我有點忐忑不安，忍不住想多打聽幾句。
「我也不知道ㄟ。」前台說
我輕輕敲了敲辦公室的門，透過門縫，聽到老闆的聲音：「請進。」
推開門，我帶著些許疑慮走了進去，「老闆，您找我？」
老闆站在窗前，陽光透過玻璃灑下，照在他手中精緻的茶具上。
他從容地泡了一壺茶，擺出要跟我聊天的架式
我有點緊張，畢竟，老闆此刻拿出的不是普通的茶葉，而是他的寶貝茶葉。
好像有點異常，他特地泡這壺茶是想幹嘛？
我默默在內心猜測
茶香彌漫開來，卻無法掩飾我內心微微地慌亂。
老闆先和我寒暄片刻，關心我最近的生活
慢慢進入了主題
「最近有學生投訴你。」
「什麼投訴？」我心跳略微加速，臉上的表情變得困惑。
「說你上課不夠有趣。」
我
我我
我我我我
心臟瞬間停滯
臉上浮現出一個大寫的問號？
什麼？
什麼？什麼？
什麼？什麼？什麼？
我上課不夠有趣也要被投訴？
我愣了片刻。
我帶的班段考平均已經進步15分了，這樣的進步不是應該讓我被表揚嗎？
怎麼會是投訴？
哎喲
哎喲哎喲
哎喲哎喲哎喲
難不成是我功課派太多？還是學生壓力太大？
「老闆您覺得要怎麼改進？」我問著對面悠閒喝茶的人
老闆沉吟了一會，說道
你等下去敲敲數學老師的辦公室，我們數學老師很受學生歡迎
學生們都說上他的課很高興、很有趣
你去取個經吧！
我點點頭，說道：「好的，謝謝老闆指點。我等下就去敲門。」
我告別了老闆，走到櫃檯時，告訴他我出門買飲料。
那時，外頭的天氣開始下起細雨，
我買了兩杯紅茶，一杯是我自己的，一杯是數學老師的。
我敲了敲數學老師的門，輕聲問道：「請問您現在有空嗎？」
數學老師人很好，說有空
我遞上紅茶，心裡略感緊張。
「怎麼啦？」數學老師笑笑問我說，怎麼今天對他那麼好，還特地幫他買飲料
「其實，我剛才被老闆叫去，他說我被學生投訴了，說我的課程不夠有趣。」
他笑笑地看著我，問有什麼可以幫到我的
「老闆說要我跟您請教，如何讓課程更有趣。他說您在這方面是專業的。」
數學老師挑了挑眉毛說道：「補習班這行就是這樣，有時候我們算是娛樂業，老師是娛樂人員，要讓學生在沉悶的生活中，有點變化。其實我也沒有很厲害，就是講一些冷笑話，讓同學笑一笑。放鬆完他們就會比較想學。」
「能舉個例子嗎？」我還是不太明白他的意思。
「好啊。沒問題」
「你知道 猴子為什麼不喜歡平行線嗎？」數學老師說道
「蝦米？」我開始思考，這是腦筋急轉彎嗎？也太難了吧
老闆，我真的不是唐三藏，可能取不了經了。九九八十一難，我第一難就被難倒了！
我想了好幾秒鐘，依然無法理解，「我想不出來，猴子和平行線怎麼會有關係呢？」我疑惑地問道。
數學老師一本正經地說：「因為平行線不會相交，所以沒有香蕉，猴子當然不喜歡。」
「哈哈哈哈！」不行，這也太冷了
我忍不住笑了出來，笑聲響亮地回蕩在辦公室裡。
不知道是我笑點太低，還是這哥們真有一把刷子
無論如何，他成功地逗笑了我。
心中那股鬱氣，聽到被客訴的暴躁突然消失。
我不由自主地想，
或許這就是教學的魅力所在——讓學生在笑聲中找到學習的樂趣。
行吧！
要這樣講冷笑話
我想，我也可以
試試吧
就像老闆說得
補教業有時候算娛樂業
我們都算演藝人員
上課要深入淺出、讓學生聽得懂 那些難懂的觀念
又要立規矩、在一開始就讓學生知道哪些事情不能做 (你很介意)
又要管秩序
又要給予肯定、情緒支持
又要培養他們讀書習慣
又要引起他們興趣
總結
或許我們都要學習對事不對人
畢竟
當我聽到老闆跟我說
你被學生投訴，上課不夠有趣 時
我腦中第一個跑出來的念頭是
哪個小兔崽子客訴我？
