Yucky

By the time most of the girls read the post, your fate had been almost if not indefinitely sealed. Forget about the long overnight girly movie marathons, forget about the bunk in some I don't know you don't know anywhere chalets, and yes kiss good bye to that favourite Mango crop top or the Top Shop demin skirt.

If you still don't know what i am talking about, oblivously blissful, congrats, you are really going to "si de heng nan kan" (or loosely translated to "die until very ugly") The results are out and the signs are not good. Students are not doing well, especially the sec 4s. Humanities in particular, Social studies especially. Notwithstanding, the issue about dropping standards, and the possible angry parents' complaints going straight up to the big boss' inbox, it is really a stressful period for teachers, and students alike. A teacher commented in her usually angmoh very accurate and very slang accent, after looking her students results, "in my 20 years as a form teacher, I have ever seen such horrible results, yes all these while in the weaker classes, there is always a couple of students who passed only one or two, but never have I see so many in one class". And that my girls, is the true reality of the results.

And for the record, I am not criticising all of you, I know some of you are working really hard, and are really stress up with the American Idol results. At this point of time I can see 4 types of students coming up

1. "A" sai ones - these are the capable ones where the results are ok. They followed what is happening in the curriculum and have absolutely no problems except for raising their hands to get more paperduring the exams and bringing more than 2 calculators to the exam hall. They are also the one who can give a detailed report about where they could possibly go wrong with the extra paper they had asked during the duration of the paper itself
2. "B"uay sai ones- not that capable but stll trying. Results not bad except can mix up reduction with oxidation, "thigh" and "tie" and "differentiation" with "integration". Basically need the time and effort to consoldiate what they have learnt in. Quite Ok lah, still on the right track
3. "C"ah na sai ones - seriously very weak but still can be saved.. if put in extra extra extra hard work then can progress to the 2nd category, but as I say need hard work
4. "D"ua lou sai ones - these are clearly the ones which make the teachers high on fever and constant vomit. These are students who are constantly getting F9 and taking them like badges of honour. It is going to be very very tough

So where are you now?

I know that there are many of you who are concerned about your grades especially when your grades don't seems to consumerate with your efforts. Alot of you are also facing stress from parents regarding the results. Let me illustrate why it is so frustrating through this picture

As you can see, it will be a little bit difficult to try to get what you want but until you try to work hard first, things will be smoother on the way.

And by the way, if your parents are not invited to the Parent Teachers dialogue, congrats you are in the A and B category. Give yourself a pat on the back with your deformed hand. With regards to the PT dialogue, it seems like a sit still amazing race, all pariticpant ( read teachers) are given 15 minutes to tell the parents the progress of the students. The nature of the conversation will usually go something like this

T- Teacher, P- Parent

T: Hi, you are..... ( search database in brain for a looklike in daughter), oh yes Mr and Mrs so and so. Thank you for coming. This is your daughter's result. (whipped out report book.. pauses for 31 sseconds)

T: Uh huh.. Mr and Mrs so-and-so, as you can see, X( insert name) did not do very well in the exams ( loosely translated: your daughter screwed up the exams). I was wondering what we can do to help her ( loosely translated: what are you as parents going to do about it?)

P: Hm... (pauses for 3 seconds) Mr/Mrs/Ms/ X (delete whichever not appropriate) how is my daughter in class?

T: Hm.. she is inattentive/lazy/don't hand up work/anythingunflattering. She really need to pull up her socks.

(the next 5 minutes or so will be on strategies, I should not bored you with that)

T: Thank You....

Anyway you get the point. What really pissed me off is that there are some parents who sit down in front of the teachers and asked US what we are going to do about it. Cuse me, We are teachers-cum-babysitters. We see your daughter in her awaken state more than you. Driving her up the slope to school every morning with a peck beofre she goes to school doesn't quantify you to literally throw your weight around. Let's do the maths, you got 1 daughter at the most two or even three or at the most four children to look after. We as teachers worried ourselves with at least 40. Sometimes it really scared me how some parent can be so aloof. If they can just look after their ONE kid, don't you think it will be easier for us who needs to look after 40 or even more. There are some who need more help, we tried to be imparital but there are just some who deserves and need more than some of you and we as teachers have only 24 hours to spare, if we don't even count our own family into it.

There are also some parents who insist we do something about it, pushng ALL the responsibilites to the teachers. Let me state this once and for all... teachers are here to help you get that ideal daughter of yours, we can't create miracles! You want miracles, ask God for it. And then at the end of the day, you get a daughter to look after you for the rest of your retirement age and we get a small thank you card during teacher day. Please get the freaking priorities right.

But then again in case some of you think that it is a parent bashing session, there are some of you who simply don't understand how much your parents love you. They don't show it in the usual hugs and kisses, and they seem to reprimand you for everything you do.. but they meant well, some of them just used the wrong way to express them. You should count yourself lucky to have parents who love you so much and want the best for you... even though it is at the xpense of the teachers.....

Anyway to end this grudge filled post, I should reproduce the response I gave to a parent today. If your mom and dad are upset over not been given the coverted green form, let them know what we feel. (PS I don't speak on behalf of the teachers, but i guess I can use mine as an example)

The Letter

Dear XXX

Thank You for your email dated 24 May 2005.

One of the reasons why your daughter, YYY failed the essay component for SS Examinations was because she misread the question and failed to answer the question properly. I agree that it would be a good lesson for her as she will be more careful in the O Level examinations, where it matters most. In terms of level of competence, she is capable of doing well but needs to start consoldiating what she had learnt for the past 1 and a half years.

One good thing about YYY is that she tries and I can understand your concerns when she had not achieved her expected grades. On the other hand, there is improvement in her results; it is just that at this point of time, good results are not shown as she is still in the process of reinforcing her foundations and learning new things. Her grade had improved from a poor E8 (44%) to a B4, a jump of 4 grades and that in a matter of 5 months. This is, a good improvement and a clear reflection again that her hard work is paying off.The reason why ALL the teachers teaching YYY is not seeing her parents is because the general consensus is that she is clearly doing the right thing and if she continues, she will get the grade she so desired. The PT dialogue is meant to be a feedback for the parents and also a chance for the teachers to speak to parents about correcting certain strategies which did not seems to work on the child. Thus it would be better for the teachers to work with parents which children are clearly not on the right track.

YYY has been an extremely sensible girl and it is a joy to have her in class. She is a proactive learner and keen to learn from her mistakes. I can see that she is also very stressed due to the examinations and this may have affected her performance. In conclusion, this is a period of time where YYY is "digesting" what had been taught and to slowly consoldiate what she had learnt. It is expected that she will find it a little tough at this point of time especially with new materials taught and constantly trying to make sense of the previous topics. I would urge patience and encouragement on the part of the teachers and the parents as she is clearly on the right track.

If you would like to talk to any of the teachers, please feel free to call me in the office or to contact me via email.

And that's is my long awaited 2 cents worth

(Anyway I received some bad news - my scholarship application had been rejected and that means that I will have to stay around in Singapore for the time being... Talk about yucky things)