Jam Band!!

Just came back from my supper with Ms Stella Ho and Mr Chan. It was indeed well deserved after the long hard day at VCH helping out in the band concert, Fantasia IV.

Really don't understand why I was the only non band teacher to be helping out in the moving of the band instruments. Strength may be a serious consideration for the selection criteria, but then again it may not; I had great difficulties even doing 5 chin-ups to pass my IPPT test. Maybe it was friendship or just the very fact that I seems to be the most approachable teacher around. (I like to think of it that way). Too 'eng' is not really a good thing in IJ.

The band concert was a success; performance wise it was enjoyable, the programme looks professional and the band instruments expensive. In fact on my way out, some parents were lamenting that the programme looks too expensive to be thrown away. I reassured some of them that it will be put into good use, such as putting kachang putih or even to the garang guni man. Mind you, the paper weight itself would have added a couple more cents. But then I digress. Well as i propose a great idea to Mr Chan saying, maybe we should have a "IJ Symphonic Band plays Norah Jones" or even "A night with Josh Groban, with the IJ symphonic band", he gave me the three-and-a-half-cent face and refused to comment. Hey it is not a crime to dream!

Half way through the concert, Mrs Yvonne Selvam sms-ed me that Manchester United had beaten Arsenal in the FA Cup semi finals, and most importantly, with a team of second stringers. Was about to jump up and down and burst into the choruses of "Glory Glory, Man United" when I suddenly remembered I am supposed to do some filming on the concert. Die-hard fans would considered the very idea of missing the game an act of "blasphemy" but I saw this as my small contribution to the team. Not that I am superstitious, but every time I watch a crucial Man U game, they ended up losing. Guess I have to exercise some social responsibility there.

Anyway back to the concert, it was nice to see the band girls showing their appreciation to the instructor, and the two teachers in charge. Good work girls, learning to express gratitude is something that I believe will create a successful person. Well I was also beaming inside when the girls showed their appreciation for all that I had done today for the band. Yes girls, teachers do like to be acknowledged and praised and appreciated for all the things they had done, they are just over-grown "students" who need the reassurance from their "teachers and peers"

I was marking the Add maths test for 3/2 and was quite upset with the results. Seriously I don't understand why it is so difficult to learn about indices and log. Come on, it could had been worse. I keep asking myself what was the problem? Too difficult? Don't understand the lesson? Or simply the lack of motivation? However I decided to do an non-Andrew-Mathews philosophy and see it as a clear lack of motivation on the part of the students (I got to blame it somewhere). Maybe I should do what Little Tommy's maths teacher did in order to get the right motivation...

Little Tommy was doing very badly in math. His parents had tried everything; tutors, flash cards, special learning centers, in short, everything they could think of. Finally in a last ditch effort, they took Tommy down and enrolled him in the local Catholic School.

After the first day, little Tommy comes home with a very serious look on his face. He doesn't kiss his mother hello. Instead, he goes straight to his room & starts studying Maths. Books & papers are spread out all over the room and little Tommy is hard at work. His mother is amazed. She calls him down to dinner and to her shock, the minute he is done he marches back to his room without a word and in no time he is back hitting the books as hard as before. This goes on for sometime, day after day while the mother tries to understand what made all the difference.

Finally, little Tommy brings home his report card. He quietly lays it on the table and goes up to his room and hits the books. With great trepidation, his mom looks at it and to her surprise, little Tommy got an A in math. She can no longer hold her curiosity. She goes to his room and says: "Son, what was it? Was it the nuns?"

Little Tommy looks at her and shakes his head "No".

"Well then", she replies, "was it the books, the discipline, the structure, the uniforms, WHAT was it?".

Little Tommy looks at her and says, "Well, on the first day of school, when I saw that guy nailed to the plus sign, I knew the Maths Teachers weren't fooling around.

My haversack on Monday should be heavier due to the hammers and nails that I will be bringing...