Tuesday, July 27, 2004
I'm glad. I think I'm building good rapport with my classes now. The attitude problems that the previous (relief) teacher warned of did not surface. There was a particularly nice moment yesterday. One class of mine was having PE lessons, and I was on the way out of the school. The guys were running round the track, and some of them waved to me. Further down the road, the girls who were doing their stretching turned around to wave also. Somehow, that simple gesture lightens my heart. To me it's a sign of acceptance. As compared to some of my other students who don't even smile or greet me when I pass them in the corridor.
Intrinsic rewards of the job? Maybe.
Today is the last day I'm covering civics duties for a colleague. I went into the year 2 class for only the second time, tasked with the topic of racial harmony. I think I really work well with less preparation; the discussion took off fairly well after a while. Interestingly, this class had very quiet girls contrasted with very outspoken guys. Which is the exact opposite of my 3 classes. Near the end, I can tell they are bored stiff from the content, and I ended early. Then I talked crap about army stuff to let them know how delicate our relations with our neighbour up north really are. Sigh. Students still prefer casual talk more than scripted content. Why prepare? Hahaha...
Intrinsic rewards of the job? Maybe.
Today is the last day I'm covering civics duties for a colleague. I went into the year 2 class for only the second time, tasked with the topic of racial harmony. I think I really work well with less preparation; the discussion took off fairly well after a while. Interestingly, this class had very quiet girls contrasted with very outspoken guys. Which is the exact opposite of my 3 classes. Near the end, I can tell they are bored stiff from the content, and I ended early. Then I talked crap about army stuff to let them know how delicate our relations with our neighbour up north really are. Sigh. Students still prefer casual talk more than scripted content. Why prepare? Hahaha...
Saturday, July 24, 2004
Came back early to school at 7.30 am. Making up a practical for 8 of my students, 3 of whom are athletes who have missed one week's worth of lessons. Yesterday I drew the key to the lab from my chemistry head, and guess what? When I went to the labs, the key could not open the doors of the lab. Not just lab 2 which I had booked, but every single other chemistry lab. Turned out that that is not the key to the main doors (I still dunno what that key opens), and thank God, one of the lab technicians happened to come back today for some other business, and he got the keys to open the lab for me. Moral of the story: do not trust everything at face value, even if it comes from someone reliable. Test the key first!
Today is Meet the Parents session for year 1 students. I was thinking to myself that I should be safe, and able to do my marking, on the basis that I only taught my classes for two weeks, and it is unlikely parents would come looking for me. Well, 2 parents did. I had quite a candid discussion with them, and I must say, they walked away pretty jovial after talking to me. I guess I have a knack with encouragement. Anyway, I'm impressed that some of the parents are that concerned about their children. On the extreme end, one parent actually broke down, cried, and subsequently, we heard that she was diagnosed with depression. After talking to the teachers. After all, the students did do poorly for the June common test.
I didn't know how I managed to talk so much about students I taught for only 2 weeks, but man, I'm brilliant. *Smoke screen...
I received unexpected encouragement from one parent actually. Her son had mentioned me to her, and he told her that even though I'm a new teacher, he does respect me, and feels that I care for the class. Aww....I must be doing something right at least.
I didn't realize how tired I actually am. I boarded 197 at City Hall, headed for church, and the moment I closed my eyes, I conked out. And when I next opened my eyes, I was passing Ikea. I seldom oversleep and overshoot my stop.
I am tired. Waking up early 5 days in a row for school, also early for Saturday's PDP, and also early for SOL3 (School of Leaders) on Sunday is slowly killing me. I'm functioning pretty well though for the amount of sleep I have. Argh. 9 more weeks and SOL3 will finish. I have to hang in there for 9 more weeks! Hmmm, then again, by the time SOL3 finishes, school holidays will be nearing.
I feel better already.
Today is Meet the Parents session for year 1 students. I was thinking to myself that I should be safe, and able to do my marking, on the basis that I only taught my classes for two weeks, and it is unlikely parents would come looking for me. Well, 2 parents did. I had quite a candid discussion with them, and I must say, they walked away pretty jovial after talking to me. I guess I have a knack with encouragement. Anyway, I'm impressed that some of the parents are that concerned about their children. On the extreme end, one parent actually broke down, cried, and subsequently, we heard that she was diagnosed with depression. After talking to the teachers. After all, the students did do poorly for the June common test.
I didn't know how I managed to talk so much about students I taught for only 2 weeks, but man, I'm brilliant. *Smoke screen...
I received unexpected encouragement from one parent actually. Her son had mentioned me to her, and he told her that even though I'm a new teacher, he does respect me, and feels that I care for the class. Aww....I must be doing something right at least.
I didn't realize how tired I actually am. I boarded 197 at City Hall, headed for church, and the moment I closed my eyes, I conked out. And when I next opened my eyes, I was passing Ikea. I seldom oversleep and overshoot my stop.
I am tired. Waking up early 5 days in a row for school, also early for Saturday's PDP, and also early for SOL3 (School of Leaders) on Sunday is slowly killing me. I'm functioning pretty well though for the amount of sleep I have. Argh. 9 more weeks and SOL3 will finish. I have to hang in there for 9 more weeks! Hmmm, then again, by the time SOL3 finishes, school holidays will be nearing.
I feel better already.
Thursday, July 22, 2004
Today a colleague commented I am very 'eng' (meaning: free). She says she often sees me walking around like I had nothing to do. So insulting. Well, it's true I had less of a workload than them because I have no civics class of my own, but they neglected the main reasons why I move around so much:
1) I am efficient. I finish my work faster than the average person. Hah!
2) I'm holed up at a cubicle where the aircon vent is about three storeys up (no kidding! That's how high the ceiling is at my area...it tapers up), and it is very, very warm where I sit. Which reminds me, I have yet to buy a small fan to place at my table.
Two of my classes were in the late afternoon, and to my horror, when I stepped in, only half the class was around. The reason? They were stuck in a long queue in the school hall for blood donation drive. I asked a student present to call those still in the queue to return, but only 4 came back. The second class was worse, because the cg rep is the vice-president of Leo Club (the club that organized the blood donation drive). And they have the cheek to ask me to tell the ghost stories when I asked them what we were supposed to do now that half the class is absent.
They had better been donating blood. Else I'll make them bleed a bag's worth. Bwahahahaha.
1) I am efficient. I finish my work faster than the average person. Hah!
2) I'm holed up at a cubicle where the aircon vent is about three storeys up (no kidding! That's how high the ceiling is at my area...it tapers up), and it is very, very warm where I sit. Which reminds me, I have yet to buy a small fan to place at my table.
Two of my classes were in the late afternoon, and to my horror, when I stepped in, only half the class was around. The reason? They were stuck in a long queue in the school hall for blood donation drive. I asked a student present to call those still in the queue to return, but only 4 came back. The second class was worse, because the cg rep is the vice-president of Leo Club (the club that organized the blood donation drive). And they have the cheek to ask me to tell the ghost stories when I asked them what we were supposed to do now that half the class is absent.
They had better been donating blood. Else I'll make them bleed a bag's worth. Bwahahahaha.
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
I've begun to collect homework, so finally I begin marking. Now I feel less free, although I still insist on having my entertainment hours. All work and no play makes Kian Seh a dull teacher. The good thing is that my classes don't dare to not hand in their work. The bad thing is that half the work is fairly sloppy. I just issued a warning regarding their quality of work, especially since their June common test results were less than satisfactory.
Still finding fun teaching my students, although sometimes, their tired faces are a real put-off. Now that I'm on the receiving end, it sucks big time. I'm still lamenting over the requirement that new teachers must put up a performance on teachers' day. Of all the nonsensical things that we need to do, now we have to make a fool of ourselves in front of the entire school too? Ah well.
Interesting outing I had today. Met 3 guys from SMU for the first time for pool. They are from the current batch of ementors in CRuSH forum, and we've been having this thread about pool for the past 1 week. Eventually a few of them decided that they will fix a day for the outing, and let the enthusiasts show up. So today was the fateful day, and four of us guys had a good deal of fun. Well, at least I had a good deal of fun...towards the end, I played good enough to be undefeated for 7 games. But the standard is still lacking, compared to a few weeks back. And I still don't like 8-feet tables.
Still finding fun teaching my students, although sometimes, their tired faces are a real put-off. Now that I'm on the receiving end, it sucks big time. I'm still lamenting over the requirement that new teachers must put up a performance on teachers' day. Of all the nonsensical things that we need to do, now we have to make a fool of ourselves in front of the entire school too? Ah well.
Interesting outing I had today. Met 3 guys from SMU for the first time for pool. They are from the current batch of ementors in CRuSH forum, and we've been having this thread about pool for the past 1 week. Eventually a few of them decided that they will fix a day for the outing, and let the enthusiasts show up. So today was the fateful day, and four of us guys had a good deal of fun. Well, at least I had a good deal of fun...towards the end, I played good enough to be undefeated for 7 games. But the standard is still lacking, compared to a few weeks back. And I still don't like 8-feet tables.
Friday, July 16, 2004
For some reason, I really am enjoying teaching. From the feedback the students gave me, my pace is good for them, and they could understand most of the things I'm emphasizing. One class in particular is really lively, and it's always a lot of fun having a class with them. The down side, of course, is the administration, especially with the June common test. Marks are a troublesome thing to handle, I've come to realize. And the additional thing is that now my IT club role kicks in, and I'm back to school on Saturdays. So I guess I'm on a five and a half day week now, like most normal working people. Darn.
Having a bonus come in is such a distracting thing. My wallet has worn out, and I went to get a new one today. I found myself tempted to buy something higher end, but in the end, I got myself a 20+ dollars humble wallet. I went to Sim Lim with the intention of finding out the prices of thumbdrives, and ended up spending a good half an hour looking at wireless mice (I assume the plural of mouse, even if it's for a piece of hardware, is still mice) and keyboards. It took me a long time of convincing myself that my current mouse and keyboard are working perfectly and are not in need of replacements before I left the place.
I award myself a pat on the back for still retaining sane control of my finances. *pat.
Having a bonus come in is such a distracting thing. My wallet has worn out, and I went to get a new one today. I found myself tempted to buy something higher end, but in the end, I got myself a 20+ dollars humble wallet. I went to Sim Lim with the intention of finding out the prices of thumbdrives, and ended up spending a good half an hour looking at wireless mice (I assume the plural of mouse, even if it's for a piece of hardware, is still mice) and keyboards. It took me a long time of convincing myself that my current mouse and keyboard are working perfectly and are not in need of replacements before I left the place.
I award myself a pat on the back for still retaining sane control of my finances. *pat.
Wednesday, July 14, 2004
Lessons are running fine. Students are still a little quiet, but I think with some time, they will open up. They are not a bad bunch. I almost feel like I can see their potential, and someday what they may turn out to be. I really hope I can make some difference in their lives. In the very least, I aspire to help them get better grades for chemistry. My three classes are ranked 15th, 22nd and 28th out of about 32 classes...sigh.
Work's great. Love ain't.
Work's great. Love ain't.
Monday, July 12, 2004
Yesterday at pool I played pretty well, but somehow I just lack the finishing touch. The killing blow. The coup de grace. Practise, practise, practise!
Today I ran two tutorials. CG26 is very quiet. Dunno is it because they have not warmed up to me yet, or they are naturally like that. They were exceedingly occupied with finding out the passing mark of the chemistry paper though. Overall, they did not do too well I guess. But I will do my best to push their grades up! *tightens headband with chinese word ren3 around forehead. CG13 in contrast is quite a lively class. When I mentioned that I was going on to the next tutorial, and that they can ask me questions before that, they asked me many, many questions about me. Before that, I already guessed they didn't finish much of the tutorial anyway, so it would explain the additional enthusiasm.
I ran one practical also, wah seh, fumble fumble. My fingers were trembling when I hold the dropper for demonstration, so sia suay. But I wasn't feeling nervous with the class actually. I still think it's the diarrhoea plaguing me since morning that makes me weak...some of the guys (and girls) seem to have some attitude, but I think with time, things should get better. After all, I'm not that hard to get along with...right? Hahaha...
Today I ran two tutorials. CG26 is very quiet. Dunno is it because they have not warmed up to me yet, or they are naturally like that. They were exceedingly occupied with finding out the passing mark of the chemistry paper though. Overall, they did not do too well I guess. But I will do my best to push their grades up! *tightens headband with chinese word ren3 around forehead. CG13 in contrast is quite a lively class. When I mentioned that I was going on to the next tutorial, and that they can ask me questions before that, they asked me many, many questions about me. Before that, I already guessed they didn't finish much of the tutorial anyway, so it would explain the additional enthusiasm.
I ran one practical also, wah seh, fumble fumble. My fingers were trembling when I hold the dropper for demonstration, so sia suay. But I wasn't feeling nervous with the class actually. I still think it's the diarrhoea plaguing me since morning that makes me weak...some of the guys (and girls) seem to have some attitude, but I think with time, things should get better. After all, I'm not that hard to get along with...right? Hahaha...
Thursday, July 08, 2004
Past two days at SPA was like being at a spa: relaxing. Sure we had to do some work, but it's all sort of done there at the spot, and nothing to take home. The thought of returning to school tomorrow suddenly looks boring.
Went back to TJC to get some stuff. Checked on the kitten...I only found a new cement patch on the wall that looks like a hole was drilled! Guess they did have a heart, and freed the poor kitten. I'm glad, though I can't seem to find the kitten anywhere on campus.
Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work I go~
Went back to TJC to get some stuff. Checked on the kitten...I only found a new cement patch on the wall that looks like a hole was drilled! Guess they did have a heart, and freed the poor kitten. I'm glad, though I can't seem to find the kitten anywhere on campus.
Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work I go~
Tuesday, July 06, 2004
Had a nice lunch on Monday catching up with my old friend Joo. Talked about a lot of things, ate a lot of things too. The heavy rain kept us talking somewhat longer than expected too. I guess some of my issues he should identify a lot with. After all, he's one of my closest friends, so I reckon we should have rubbed off a lot of influence on each other. Could be a bad thing too, looking at him...haha...(Ok, that was a low blow.)
Today spent whole day at SPA! Ok that was phrased to deliberately mislead the readers of my blog who are not aware that SPA = Schoolbased Practical Assessment. It's a 3-day workshop I have to attend, which I consider a holiday because there's no take-home work, it's at Grange Road, so it's just off Orchard, and there's no direct supervision from anyone from TJC. Of course, many disagree with my once-again-optimistic perspective.
I'm really happy for my good friend Shups who has passed her driving test. Knew she would pass...now I only hope she gets hold of a car. Haha, I'm a man without an ego when it comes to getting a ride from a girl. I'm not the guy-at-the-wheel type. Heck, the idea of me driving doesn't excite me at all. Hmmm I don't like soccer, and I don't fancy driving...atypical.
Have a wild thought to pick up music. I'm running out of things to learn and be good at (of course, things that actually interest me...). Music is one sphere I have yet to cross the boundary. Tried my hand at drums once with a drum set lying around on church grounds. I just can't coordinate my legs. Maybe there are fields I shouldn't think of trying a hand in.
Today spent whole day at SPA! Ok that was phrased to deliberately mislead the readers of my blog who are not aware that SPA = Schoolbased Practical Assessment. It's a 3-day workshop I have to attend, which I consider a holiday because there's no take-home work, it's at Grange Road, so it's just off Orchard, and there's no direct supervision from anyone from TJC. Of course, many disagree with my once-again-optimistic perspective.
I'm really happy for my good friend Shups who has passed her driving test. Knew she would pass...now I only hope she gets hold of a car. Haha, I'm a man without an ego when it comes to getting a ride from a girl. I'm not the guy-at-the-wheel type. Heck, the idea of me driving doesn't excite me at all. Hmmm I don't like soccer, and I don't fancy driving...atypical.
Have a wild thought to pick up music. I'm running out of things to learn and be good at (of course, things that actually interest me...). Music is one sphere I have yet to cross the boundary. Tried my hand at drums once with a drum set lying around on church grounds. I just can't coordinate my legs. Maybe there are fields I shouldn't think of trying a hand in.
Monday, July 05, 2004
Greece won Portugal 1-0. Gut feeling was wrong. As a guy who knows very little about soccer, my assessment of the game is that Portugal played pretty well in the match. I thought in general they handled the ball well, and the passing was good. Greece on the other hand played a very boring game. I don't recall seeing so many balls being kicked out of the field by one team in the first half. But I realized one thing. In soccer, consistency isn't everything. It's about being at the right place at the right time, seizing an opportunity to score. Of course, Portugal did miss some good chances to equalize, but in general, Greece set up a pretty thick defence. Ah well, I was still kind of bored watching the game. In any case, I realized that I actually support Portugal, because after Greece scored the goal, I was hoping that Portugal would equalize at least. Or maybe I just want to see a more exciting match that goes into extra time or penalty shootout.
The staying up so late doesn't seem very justified to watch a match that doesn't go into extra time or penalty shootout. Hehe.
The staying up so late doesn't seem very justified to watch a match that doesn't go into extra time or penalty shootout. Hehe.
I'm waiting for the Portugal vs Greece match! Surprise, surprise. Me, the man who does not watch soccer in the least, staying up to catch a soccer match. Now why would I have such a change of heart? Merely because two dark horses, or underdogs, survived it to the finals. They have beaten every opponent thought to be stronger than them, and now here they are. So it's exceedingly interesting to find out which is the stronger underdog. The unfortunate thing is I really don't support either team, nor have I betted money on either, so I really hope that the match won't be boring.
For some strange reason, my Sunday today became free. And the sad thing is, I cannot find a single other soul who is free. More specifically, I cannot find a single person whom I want to meet up or catch up with free today. And the substitute cost me a big sum of money...I bought some anime and movie VCDs to watch. Ah well, at least I have something to occupy me till Euro finals.
Gut feeling says Portugal will win though.
I'm taking time to really think about things. What do I really want out of this life? It seems to be a simple question to answer for many people, but somehow I am just ill-informed in this area. I have been living my life for so long being the man people expect me to be, fulfilling the responsibilities I feel I ought to take on, but I really don't know what fuels me deep inside. What I really want to do, to accomplish, to complete.
What do I want...?
For some strange reason, my Sunday today became free. And the sad thing is, I cannot find a single other soul who is free. More specifically, I cannot find a single person whom I want to meet up or catch up with free today. And the substitute cost me a big sum of money...I bought some anime and movie VCDs to watch. Ah well, at least I have something to occupy me till Euro finals.
Gut feeling says Portugal will win though.
I'm taking time to really think about things. What do I really want out of this life? It seems to be a simple question to answer for many people, but somehow I am just ill-informed in this area. I have been living my life for so long being the man people expect me to be, fulfilling the responsibilities I feel I ought to take on, but I really don't know what fuels me deep inside. What I really want to do, to accomplish, to complete.
What do I want...?
Friday, July 02, 2004
Day four and five spent to complete marking, consolidate marks and help a fellow new teacher a bit. So much admin, too little time. Another class of mine's results came in. 8 passes. About a third of the class. Frankly I don't remember the common test results being that bad when I was a student. Did the tests get more difficult? I am under the impression that the calibre of students have been improving every year. Kids somehow are getting smarter every year. It's often just the parents who ruin them...
Today I saw a trapped kitten and my heart really ached. You know, sometimes kittens mew so pathetically that it's heart wrenching? In the school, there's this kitten trapped in between two walls. The auditorium has sound-proofing, so there is a thin gap between two parallel walls (one is sound-proof material I think). Somehow, from the second floor, there's a ledge that opens into this gap, and I heard the mother cat accidentally dropped the kitten in. So the poor thing fell one storey into this narrow gap with no way to get out of it. Some of us ripped out a thin strip of padding (the wall is comprised of many square blocks with thin gaps plugged by this thin strip of padding) that leaves us a one-inch gap to see and feed the kitten. But there is no way to get the kitten out. Unless we break down part of the wall. Sigh. It's a cute little white kitten with baby blue eyes.
Today I saw a trapped kitten and my heart really ached. You know, sometimes kittens mew so pathetically that it's heart wrenching? In the school, there's this kitten trapped in between two walls. The auditorium has sound-proofing, so there is a thin gap between two parallel walls (one is sound-proof material I think). Somehow, from the second floor, there's a ledge that opens into this gap, and I heard the mother cat accidentally dropped the kitten in. So the poor thing fell one storey into this narrow gap with no way to get out of it. Some of us ripped out a thin strip of padding (the wall is comprised of many square blocks with thin gaps plugged by this thin strip of padding) that leaves us a one-inch gap to see and feed the kitten. But there is no way to get the kitten out. Unless we break down part of the wall. Sigh. It's a cute little white kitten with baby blue eyes.