The One about Teachers' Day (Part 2) edited

So teachers' day celebration came and went. On the whole, it was a yucky feeling. For me at least, for it was a quiet and largely ignored teacher day celebration. Fast forwarded, when people move at lightning speed, when conversations were engaged, and there I was sitting in the little cubicle I can call my workdesk as I ploughed laboriously on this entry.Lost was the feeling, Indifference is the attitude, and of course downcast was generally the mode of expression.

I was wondering why I can't feel anything. Maybe true to what my principal ask, "have you adjusted?" Yes maybe the hustle and bustle of stuff, the need to finish stuff at lightning speed, and to literally run rather than walk the pace. But sad to say, to the students, a firm no when it come to adjusting to them?

It was in the school culture that the students will write dedications to nominate the teachers they like as the most caring teacher for the year, and it will be painstakingly compiled by the admin staff into nice little folders with all the sheets of dedications. Kinda Teacher Idol. The one with the highest number of dedications will be the most caring teacher. I was very appreciative of what the admin staff do, and it was a painful reminder :P to say the least, how the students see you. With a pathetic number of 4 or 5 dedications, I must have been the feeling of a Gayle Nerva in SI 2006. And interestingly, it was the normal class which wrote the bulk of the measly 5 for me. It did warm my cold cold heart and got my spirit up from the depth of netherland. Likewise the thing where not even 1 from your form class do sum up my relationship with my class. I do not want to bear grudges, for I have to admit, investment to build up a relationship required both parties, and I seems to have this fatass inertia.

I shared at a causal gathering last nigh with a bunch of my new colleagues. I couldnt comprehend why is it that I could touch lives and make a difference in my previous school, where students in their Uni years now, send me congratulatory smses and gave me phone calls of concern, why is it that kids are comfortable enough to have opportunities to have lunch, dinner or tea with me. But yet in this new place, I have become just a education officer ( not a teacher). I read a book by John Maxwell "the 17 Indisputable laws of teamwork" and I remember particularly 1 episode which I read, where he mentioned sometimes a person can't perform in the environment was due to the fact that he/she is not a lousy player, he/she was just playing in the wrong team. Recounting this episode to my colleagues, I asked myself, could it be I have joined the wrong team?"

My wife once said that I have joined the right profession. Being narcissistic in a non-obsessive manner, I strive on recognition, external or internal. Motivation play a very important role for me. And it has to say, it is a sinking feeling today to say the least.

Sometimes I do understand that recently I have been showing too much of my vulnerabilities and idiosyncracies, to the people that I have loved, and people who loved and unloved or not even know me.. :P Unlike trisha, thatjedi, kelvin, who are shrouded in secrecy. I am literally foolishly brave, or bravely foolish to reveal myself ( call it narcissistic! :P)

Maybe things would be better next year. There will be a next year.

(PS I do miss the presents from the IJ girls, edible, inedible cookies, functional, dysfunctional pieces of art, beautiful words and sentences, I miss reading them.... Opps here I go again. :( )

(PS thank for the concern, but I am feeling much better now, the dinner I had with some of my new colleagues until 2 am in the morning was a good reliver.)

The One about Teachers' Day

In another 9 hours time, I will be on my way to school for the Teachers' Day Celebrations
Maybe it is the fact that this is a new school for me, and I am only about 8 months into the full ritual of the school. Maybe it is the fact that I am so bogged down by things in school that I am not able to really focus on the emotional aspect os the students, the absence of quality time to bild bonds and of course the absence of any particular reason to do so.

Teacher's day will just be a day, a holiday of songs and dance, but I guess it will not touch my heart.

Maybe this view will change. who knows?
To me, I dont feel appreciated when I know that I have not invested in the relationship. Any overt show of gratitude to me is just a show.
Maybe I am cynical, maybe I am just cranky. Or Maybe it is just me.

The One with the Save and Thrift

I guess for the next few months I got to start eating grass....
I have just signed up a 8 day tour package to Korea with Chan brothers. This will be like a second honeymoon for me and my wife

Skiing here I come... :)

The One about Career Choices

Maybe it is the signs of burnout and fatigue. But recently I was actually wondering, what my life would have been if I have choose to do some other things than the "Calling"? In the profession for a good 6 years now, I asked myself when I was still that eager beaver, the never-say-die gungho attitude, with that willingness to do just about everything, anything, how would I have fare if I have chosen something else. How would my life be? Better or for the worst?

Actually i is bad to even contmeplate about other career choices when it is all about making life choices and sticking with it. Live life with zest and move forward with no regrets. But it would be interesting if I had actually done the following....

dreaming music..... smoke machines creating the misty effect and I am brought to 6 years ago where I have made my career choice..


"cut!" a voice boomed. "what the heck is all this... we will never be able to get that documentary on time.. Where is the assistant producer? I asked him to go and get the newscaster like an hour ago, don't tell me he lost his bloody way again. With a sweat drenched t shirt, and beads of perspiration, the assistant producer rushed to the director and apologie profusely, there was a mixup in the schedule and the newscaster so happen to be involved in another place for filming. His hands were still holding the packets of food for the production crew, while he faced the scolding from the producer for not getting the schedule. The rest fo the crew moaned and took the packets of food and found a shady corner for lunch.

The director lamented " aiyah, why you so blur one? Wei kwang, like that how to be promoted to producer...."


Poof back to reality, screaming at students does seems like a better option now... :P

The One about the weekend

To cap a lacklustre week, I had a miserable weekend. The routine of looking after Baby Vernice and the mad rush of marking the examination and test papers and of course my stupid comp had to die on me. I was actually hoping to edit all those video clips I have taken of Vernice and post it on her blog but the computer obviously had other plans. After 1 couple of abortive starts, I decided that it will be a waste of my time to continue and thus the lack of internet activity during the last 2 days.

It was not that bad though as I got to spend some time for myself on Saturday morning. Other than shopping for a present for my wife ( it is our dating anniversary tomorrow) I get to do what I enjoyed most, looking through the array of CDs on display and testing out the songs on the sound system.

This morning is going to be quite a day for me for I will be in class for almost the whole of the day. I am not really that excited about going into the class again, after what happen on friday. But then again a teacher got to do what a teacher got to do. Just like Superman, he pretty much have no choice....

The one with that there is no failure, just feedback

A short 15 minute in a sec 3 class was enough to get my blood boiling. Sometimes I wondered if my threshold for masochism had reduced appreciably.

I am never someone who believe in completing syllabus for the sake of it and believe in my inner purpose of developing the whole self. I mentioned extensively about the things I believe strongly about the growth of a person and the meaning of life. And sometimes I do get cynical looks and comments but in general students are usually receptive. Maybe it is too much of the “good” thing and I find myself facing a crowd who were skeptical to the things that I said. I did not expect students to treat what I said as “gospel truth” but I was hoping that deep down I could touch hearts and got them thinking about things and about life in general. Maybe it is the intellect level, maybe it is the maturity level, but it was frustrating to say the least.

I wanted to set some work relating to self discovery - maybe it has nothing to do with the curriculum, maybe it has nothing to do with exams and Maybe it has nothing to do with them. In view of the cynicism, I erased my instructions on the board, the instructions for their weekend task. I retorted that if they feel that it doesn’t matter to them. They do not care about it, then I think it defeat the purpose of the exercise. I walked out of the class.

This was it....

The One about a poem

The wind one brilliant day
Called to my soul
With an odor of jasmine

And the wind said
“In exchange for the odor of my jasmine
I would like to have all the odor of your roses.”

I replied,
“I have no roses, all the flowers in my garden are dead.”

And the wind said,
“I will take the withered petals and the yellow leaves.”

And the wind left…

And I wept!

And I said to my soul,
“what have you done with the garden that have been entrusted to you?”

Antonio Machado

The One about NDP

so national day comes and goes....

Thankfully I did not show my over-zealousness by singing "we are singapore" out loud during the school national day parade, for there were as usual some hiccups here and there in the preparations. However I am glad to see the end of that for it means now I can finally settle down and deal with my core business - teaching and learning..

In fact I spend the entire ND catching up with my sleep and of course playing with my audiophile stuff. Got a couple of CDs - namely the soundtrack for the Pirates of the Carribean 2 , Jim Tomlinson "the lyrics" featuring Stacy Kent, Danny Chan (陳百強) Greatest Hits Collection ( SACD), Sissel" into Paradise". Actually buying the cds allow me to test out my sound system and it is always relaxing to lounge in my sofa and play the music in the background. I was doing some packing yesterday and found so many cds that I have bought. I almost forgotten that I have bought them. In fact I realise that this year I have gotten so many cds, maybe it is just an indication of the stress I have.

Anyway back to the theme of ND, as i look back at the past few years national day, it always seems to come and go. The extent that some of the people would go to get an NDP ticket or two is always a question beyond me. I am never a fan of the hot and sweltering heat, jammed packed like sardines in the National Stadium and I am ashamed to say I have never watch an NDP in its entirety. Sometme I do wondered, if I am really patroitic or such but I am always sad to say finding more interesting to do than plonking myself in front of the TV to watch the 2 hr plus proceedings. Guilty? maybe sometimes... But i really cant understand the fuss about it.

Seems like today rantings dont make much sense.... Sleep deprivation do have a funny way of influencing your thoughts and words.

The One about Questions about the Humanities

It was a-spur-in-the-moment thing. I was just teaching in my sec 3 class when I shared with the students when I started to share the importance of the humanities. In a society where traditional emphasis is on the EMS, it is no wonder that the Humanities teachers had the unenviable task of enthusing and motivating. Many colleagues teaching other disciplines green-eyed the freedom and flexibility that the Humanities teachers had; it was always a subject that was interesting, with stories, andecotes, with forms and features, with people and achievement, with forms and features, with crises and conflicts. However it is also a discipline which is regarded as the poorer cousin in terms of priority. I remember asking one of the DD during the Meet-the-DD session and I discreetly probe about the issue of increasing the emphasis of the humanities. I got a no-answer answer where he asserted that the very fact that it is considered in the L1R5 already suggested its importance, which of course got me thinking about the next issue - is a subject deemed as important if it is an examinable subject or is a subject emphasized deemed as important?

A colleague passionate about Geography shared with her students that "Geography is the master of all subjects"* She qualified this by highlighting the different aspect of the discipline which showed shades of the other subjects, whether it is maths, science, or even economics. Undeterred I continued my tirade with the class and told the kids that History do not claim to be the master of all subjects but rather it is the training of the mind - You understand the causes and effects, you comprehend the truths and untruths, you differentiated the different perspectives. These skills can be used for all disciplines.

Anyway in class, I told the kids that whatever they learn in humanities in terms of facts, sadly is not really that important (for my discipline to say the least) The most important thing is to find relevance and learning about yourself and to understand about life in its microcosm. I left the class leaving them with more questions. I told them to learn is to expand your horizon, to talk to people, to see, to observe and to listen. I told them that the type of person you are depend on:

1) the books you read
2) the movies you watch
3) the conversations you had and
4) the friends you made

Which of course lead to the last questions - how can one be human when one is oblivious to the humanities?



* In fact one of the students intepret it as the "mother of all subjects" and i countered that by saying history is the "grandfather of all subjects" :P

The One about Gratitude

My previous entry apparently struck a chord among many of my ex students who had hear me religiously proselytizing about this quality that I held so dear. Many students would remember the "lectures" I gave during those "teachable moments" to reinforce this. I am saying the one quality which I believe will define a great man from a good man - "Gratitude". Sorry if I do sound deterministic at times like this, but this is one trait which I hold strongly in my beliefs. In fact I was pleasantly surprised to get this mail in my email mailbox this morning when I logon.

Now I would shamelessly quote from the mail.

"hello mr ng,

i havent gotten a chance to speak to you much since a very long time.even though we had the bbq,there was no much chance for me to talk to you and stuff.that explains this rather sudden email doesnt it.

so i was just wondering what you were up to in your new school,new environment,new kids and of cause no more nonsensical ij girls.read your blog and while reading your most recent post,i thought of something you taught us in sec 3 - one which stayed in my heart this long.
you once wrote on the board "gratitude" and told us that that was the most important word so on and so forth.and i was just thinkin bout it.

i dont know if you know but i was asked to go back to ij for honor's day'06 where i received,well my prize for coming in first for my combined humanities.i had always wanted to message you before to thank you and to inform you that i was goin back and things like that but the hectic jc life never gave me a chance to.i guess i shldnt blame whatever jc life or anything cause i know for sure that if i had really wanted to there wld have been enough time for me to squeeze out abit of time out of my busy schedule to message you or something.i know this mail is a little late,afterall honors day is already over and things like that but i just wanted to thank you for all that you have done in terms of my academics,you were there and tried your best as a history cum social studies teacher,making sure that your students got whatever skills that they needed in order to face any kind of questions during an examination!(though i remember that for a certain exam there was a certain question that was an attempt of phrasing it cheem but faild thus causing everyone to misinterprete the qs!haha) anyhow back to this,and i probably have never said this before, but you were the best form tcher a class could ever asked for. it was good to be able to be in your form class and at times work 'hand in hand' with you as the class chair.thank you for all that you gave to the class, made everything so memorable.

not only were you there as a teacher, you were there as a friend and a mentor. giving valuable advice whenever we needed it. the difference between a secondary school tcher and a jc tcher is that the secondary school tcher cares alot more for you then the ones in jc.haha. its true. but o wells. thanks again mr ng for everything. from sec 3 and sharing the "white monkey' joke with us to going through sec 3 adventure camp, parent tcher meeting, mid years then final years, the whole gruelling sec 4 year, preparing us for the o's as a amaths,history,social studies tcher and a mentor cum friend, to the sec 4 self awareness camp, mid years and finally the o's. encouraging us constantly and giving us your full support. thank you for having faith in us! we got through it together as a class.

yes gratitude is one important word.
thank you mr ng for the many things you have done for us. it will definitely not be forgotten!

hope you're doing fine now,
take care.
god bless!"

Hi amanda
It was nice to hear from you even though I am no longer in IJ. I apologise for not being there as a form teacher to award you with the prize for it would seem so inappropriate, even though deep down inside I would love to just hand the prize over to you. I am definitely surprised that my personal mantra of life would one day be an impact in some way or another to my students. Ye gratitude is indeed something important and I am thankful for the honour to be a part of your life which you felt significant and memorable and I am glad that I have in some way or another be a part of it. I am happy that all the Sec 4/4 have move on to your new phase of your education. Deep down inside, I do miss those times in class when all the class antics never fail to amaze/frustrate/anger/please me.

Thank you for the kind reminder of what I am here for.

Mr Ng
Sometimes I just hate myself for being so sentimental :(

The One about the Man of Steel again

Bryan Singer's "Superman returns" brought a lot of inspired entries on the son from Kryton. Many know that I do draw similarities with this man ( wearing read underwear in the right way not withstanding) and it was a pleasant surpise to see another fellow professional writing something about the Man of Steel.

As I mentioned about being Superman the last time, things have so far not been good in school. If you have been reading the past entries, you would see that the world is infested with problems so big that even the Man of Steel would have a problem deciding which to settle first. Which is also why I shamelessly ask the author of the blog mentioned whether she was refering to me per se. I guess she might be talking about teachers per se, people per se, or even problems in general. (Hey the world does not revolve around the superman wannabe :P)

It is always at this period of time, I tell myself to be thankful of stuff and be grateful with things I have. I was having a conversation with my baby girl on the car. I told her she was a lucky girl for she get zoomed around by her chauffuer dad when I never had the opportunity. I guess she may not be listening as she was just cooing around and smiling. However even though this term had been hellish to say the least, I find it a good opportunity to look around and ask myself what things i should be thankful of. I do feel better when I do so.

Who are the people and events I am thankful of? Let me count thee

What about u?

The One about another big D thing

Maybe it is the stress of term 3, maybe it is the inhumanely punishing schedule. But people are acting really peculiar in these few weeks. As a form teacher, you prayed that other than the rushing of syllabi, pestering students for homework, the almost obligitory teacher observations, the deadline of setting papers and the preparation of the 4E/4N/5N students for the end of year "BIG THING", the least you need is of course a disciplinary problem, a BIG disciplinary problem.

I was literally hit with that on Friday after the dialogue session with the Deputy Director (Personnel). To cut the frivolous short, the DM came to me, spoke to me in hushed tones, while gesticulating me to go out of the conference room. Sensing the seriousness of the issue, I stepped out with tredipation, thinking what could have happen again to my ever notorious hyperactive sec 2 form class. To have some sense of inanomymity and privacy, I shan't reveal the full details of it,but le me just say, these type of problems will never happen in IJ where the cohort is all female, even if hormones are raging and interests in the opposite sense will befuddle you to do things beyond your wildest imagination. SIGH..... And the best thing about this was that there were rumour that he had done something similar before however there was no concrete evidence nor witnesses who stand out to "testify". Therefore I gave him the benefit of the doubt. After repeated counselling and even a "warning" on wednesday, this time he was caught red-handed AND red-faced.

Now he has to face the music, parents are called up, meet the P session on Monday. How is that to add to the insanely crazy term three?

The One with the Something good to start the day

I saw this on a friend's blog entry archive and decided to put it in my blog to motivate myself and my friends.

God: Hello! Did you call me?
Me: Called you? No.. who is this?

God: This is GOD. I heard your prayers. So I thought I will chat with you.
Me: I do pray. Just makes me feel good. I am actually busy now. I am in the midst of something........

God: What are you busy at? Ants are busy too.
Me: Don't know. But I can't find free time. Life has become hectic. It's rush hour all the time.

God: Sure. Activity gets you busy. But productivity gets you results. Activity consumes time. Productivity frees it.
Me: I understand. But I still can't figure it out. By the way, I was not expecting YOU to buzz me on instant messaging chat.

God: Well I wanted to resolve your fight for time, by giving you some clarity. In this net era, I wanted to reach you through the medium you are comfortable with.

Me: Tell me, why has life become complicated now?
God: Stop analyzing life. Just live it. Analysis is what makes it complicated.

Me: why are we then constantly unhappy?
God: Your today is the tomorrow that you worried about yesterday. You are worrying because you are analyzing. Worrying has become your habit. That's why you are not happy.

Me: But how can we not worry when there is so much uncertainty?
God: Uncertainty is inevitable, but worrying is optional.

Me: But then, there is so much pain due to uncertainty..
God: Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional.

Me: If suffering is optional, why do good people always suffer?
God: Diamond cannot be polished without friction. Gold cannot be purified without fire. Good people go through trials, but don't suffer. With that experience their life becomes better not bitter.

Me: You mean to say such experience is useful?
God: Yes. In every term, Experience is a hard teacher. She gives the test first and the lessons afterwards.

Me: But still, why should we go through such tests? Why can't we be free from problems?
God: Problems are Purposeful Roadblocks Offering Beneficial Lessons (to) Enhance Mental Strength. Inner strength comes from struggle and endurance, not when you are free from problems.

Me: Frankly in the midst of so many problems, we don't know where we are heading..
God: If you look outside you will not know where you are heading. Look inside. Looking outside, you dream. Looking inside, you awaken. Eyes provide sight. Heart provides insight.

Me: Sometimes not succeeding fast seems to hurt more than moving in the right direction. What should I do?
God: Success is a measure as decided by others.. Satisfaction is a measure as decided by you. Knowing the road ahead is more satisfying than knowing you rode ahead. You work with the compass. Let others work with the clock.

Me: In tough times, how do you stay motivated?
God: Always look at how far you have come rather than how far you have to go. Always count your blessing, not what you are missing.

Me: What surprises you about people?
God: when they suffer they ask, "why me?" When they prosper, they never ask "Why me" Everyone wishes to have truth on their side, but few want to be on the side of the truth.

Me: Sometimes I ask, who am I, why am I here. I cant get the answer.
God: Seek not to find who you are, but to determine who you want to be. Stop looking for a purpose as to why you are here. Create it. Life is not a process of discovery but a process of creation.

Me: How can I get the best out of life?
God: Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence.Prepare for the future without fear.

Me: One last question. Sometimes I feel my prayers are not answered.
God: There are no unanswered prayers.. At times the answer is NO.

Me: Thank you for this wonderful chat. I am so happy to start this day with a new sense of inspiration.
God: Well. Keep the faith and confidence and drop the fear. Don't believe your doubts and doubt your beliefs. Life is a mystery to solve, not a problem to resolve. Trust me. Life is wonderful if you know how to live.

"Life is what we make it, always has been, always will be."

The One about Trafford

I brought Trafford to the animal clinic last evening. Like a irresponsible parent, I was trying my best to fit in the medical appointment even though I had the whole weekend to do so. Trafford was suffering from a mild ear irritation and I have been procrastinating to send him to the clinic ( such irresponsible owner!)

Ever since Vernice came into our family, Trafford had lost the status as the apple of the eyes of the family. He cuts a forlorn figure when attention and love were showered on Vernice. Sensing that his status as the “pet” (sic) of the house is fast disminishing, he accepted willingly his fate as the “donggong”东宫 whose popularity faded when the emperor found his concubine.

Nevertheless, he continue to show his affection to all in the family and wagged his tail and demands for a tummy rub everytime someone he knew stepped into the house. He also take up the additional responsibility as the “gor gor’ and look after vernice when she is lying on the bed. Like a big brother, he can be really protective of Vernice and lie besides her, somewhere near but not too near to create any form of discomfort for him or Vernice. There were times when he wanted to show his affections by licking her and patting her, but was shouted down by my mum and dad. I think deep down inside he must have felt really hurt.

The visit to the clinic was a relatively short one. Within 45 minutes, Trafford got his ears checked and cleaned, his vaccinations injection done and I came out 88 dollars poorer. But I could see a little sparkle in his eyes, when he was looking out from the car window ( an act he loves) and letting his fur down. I think he enjoyed the bonding moment with me. And that made me guilty, for I realize how much attention I have not given to him and how a little attention got him so happy. Sometime I am wondering if I might be so partial if I have another daughter. Then again One Vernice I already cannot handle liao.. :(

The One with Kelynn's Gift

I was doing some work when I cam across Kelynn's (an ex-student) gift to me during the class BBQ. It was a collection of quotes about teachers in squarish pieces of papers which is placed in a small little box. One quote caught my attention

"A good teacher is like a candle - it consumes itself to light the way for others"

Hm... is that why I am feeling so burn out :P

Anyway 6 weeks to end of term 3...

Sigh!

The One with the God's help

I heaved a sigh of relief yesterday morning after the reenactment of the RH riots. It didnt turn out well, the monologue was inaudible totally overwhelmed by the music and the poor kids did not hear the cue, and thus was not able to come in and "act" when it was time to so. The "rioting" kids were disappointed especially the girl reading the monologue; she felt that she was to blame for the whole failure of the performance. However I had to reassure them that it was ok and most importantly they had done their best. even though the story was not heard clearly, the students did enjoyed the performance and were exceptionally quiet when the girl read the reflections. At least the message for that did get through.

After the first bell went and lesson started, I sat alone in the canteen, getting my regular coffee fix, hoping to nurse my bruised ego if there is any, and thenI realised however I ended the session more relieved than disappointed, perhap my anal perfectionist attitude had waned or I am just too drained ? As i was looking for some answers and hope, I saw this

Guess it did help to be in a convent school for a while, God has been providing answers everywhere even on the metal shutter.. :)

The Ego One

The One with the RH Prelude

I was in school till the unearthly hour of 7.15 pm as I watch my "rioters" fighting against each other on the school assembly area. This was one of the events that we had for RHD 2006, where we will be reenacting a riot scene to impress upon the kids the importance of RH even though what we will be trying to do is to put up a hypothetical situation in the year 2030 with a monologue and of course "extras" acting out the rioting scenes. After the initial attempts by the sec 2s to fight each other ( it ended up like "Brokeback Mountain" meet "Mortal Combat") the moves were refined and of course the "brokeback" ness was reduced together with an increased sense of realism. In fact it got so real that I was going to shout "cut" at certain junction until the kids started huddling together laughing.

Anyway I went back home with a spliting headache and felt that the best thing to do is just to let me thoughts flow through words on the net. It has been an eventful day for me, first I got to know in the morning that I was supposed to be a counsellor to a bunch of students who has apparently commmitted some offence during the Perth fieldtrip. They feel that being a guy, a young man, a married man I would be in a good position to share about the nos about certain things. Anyway I shan't wash dirty laundry in the cyberspace public but I must say it is quite a unique experience for me though I had to call my wifey, who happens to be a social worker btw to give me some advice. Then there was another case of another student in my class who apparently have been missing school for a while even after her suspension. Even though the form teacher ( a close colleague of mine) emphasize that there was nothing wrong. But as a typical humanities teacher who is blessed with the skills of inference and analysis. i was able to put two things together and got the conclusion ( Anyway the two issues mentioned is not related but yet related at the same time, if you are not so dense :P) Sometimes curiosity do kill the cat.

Now I am just crossing my fingers and hope that everything goes on smoothly tomorrow or should I say in about 10 hours time sigh!!

The One with the Week 4 of Term 3

How time flies, and let me hang on to my cape and my ever slipping red underwear.

Term 3 comes and before you knew it , it is already week 4 ( and counting down the week to September). It is the usual hush and puff and of course the seemingly mad frantic and punsihing pace of school. Grouchy look and stressed faces had started to appear among the many residing in the staffroom. Colleagues losing their usual bubbly nature and losing battles against simple viruses. There were others who literally took the "s" from stress and got a new haircut, a new hairdo with maggie mee- like tresses. In fact one of the canteen vendors asked me in hushed tones whether the hairdo was part of the commemoration of Racial Harmony Day, even though I am not quite sure whether how is that so. Anyway, there were many revelations of teachers applying for open posting, many contemplated on quitting and many started bingeing. It is such a typical sight of Term 3 and as one of the members of the relief committee, it is quite usual to see a LONG list of absent teachers everyday. I guess stress really take its toil.

In fact I told one of the Sec 4N class who is still apparently in holiday mood to literally "wake up" their ideas, and all I got were sleepy looks which disappeared almost instanteously when the recess bell goes.

Anyway I have no answer to the increasing stress and stuff. For I tried to adopt a "Zen"-like attitude towards work during term 3 where "work is no work" but "no work can also be work" type of mentality. Seems chim and it took me a while and a few stacks of marking to fully comprehend the gis of that. But then again I digress.

I was going to tell you all about what happen over the week and how things are going now with the little addition in the family. But I guess you can pretty much read it from here. Someone who I was subconsciously thinking about, had actuall found my blog and made contact! I was so surprised and happy. Took some time to read through her blog entries and am really happy that she is doing well in Sydney. It has been a long while almost 2 years plus since I last saw her. In fact i wrote an emotional entry then which I guess she never managed to read it. How time flies and how we have aged over time!

Maybe time had been kind to both of us, and bringing us apart at a time when our differences threaten to spoil our relationship. Maybe time was bad to both of us, and it seems that metaphorically speaking we are now isle apart in our pursuits.

After my trip to Perth, I was telling myself that one day I would leave the sunny isle and live in a place where the pace of life is less stressful and idyllic. Maybe I will make good my promise one day when I am sick of all the worldy pursuit and finally willing to live life as simply as I want. But till then I am still having a world of a time; hm... maybe that is where the stress is coming from? :)

The One with the obvious drop in standard

After almost 3 week i finally got down to marking the sec 3 holiday work. The quality to say the least was grotesque if you can actually use that adjective. Anyway this was a history homework where they are supposed to do a newspaper frontpage. I thought it was pretty interesting and enough to get the students excited about history. On top of that, I had the best band of the sec 3 history class. So imagine the horror when I took out from my locker the loads of salted vegetables.

This is one :
















Dont they understand the meaning of the word A3 Tabloid. I frantically look for the student name and there it is ...
















My MNFC chairperson of last year would definitely hand in better work. She was an AEP student and extremely good in her writing... Sigh...

FYI MNFC is Mr NG Fan Club... haha

The One that I saw him smile to me for the first time

It is a special day today, as i dragged my feet into the infamous class which I so dreaded. However surprisingly, the lesson went on smoothly and I had about a couple of minutes to spare after completing what i wanted to cover.

I took the opportunity to talk to this boy which I have so infamously mentioned before. He happened to be one of the athletes who were taking part in the Nationals. I spoke to him and congratulate him on his qualification for the High Jump event. I told him that he has potential and I would like to train him for his event. He listened to me intently and was thanking me profusely. He smiled at me!

Another boy from the class was called by me. This is also another problematic boy whom I have shouted and screamed at for disruptiuve behaviour and not handing up work. I told him that I knew he went to the hospital with a couple of his friends on friday to visit his form teacher. I enquired from him the form teacher's latest conditions and praise him that what he did was a "nice gesture". he said thanks and He smiled at me!

It was nice and it really made my day.