Had my second lecture (first one though for the morning lecture group), which I thought I wasn't too coherent. I didn't read through my slides at all before the lecture, and just went in sleepy and unrehearsed. Surprisingly when I gathered feedback from my classes and the classes I am relieving for my level head, they found the lectures to be very clear. And one of my weaker students said that for the first time she understood what's going on in the lecture, and she said this was very high praise. One other student commented that her classmate found my voice sexy. Duh. Not the kind of feedback I'm looking for. The only negative comment so far was that I was too serious, and suggested I cracked jokes. Hmmm...tough to insert relevant humour into a lecture though.

SPA is disgusting. Yet again, trying to standardize the marking scheme for the next batch of scripts was a nightmare. Asking the board for clarification is a dead-end road again, with a relatively neutral reply. Fortunately, the scripts I have previously marked has been successfully cleared by the internal moderator. Else I have to remark about 200 scripts! Argh.

Looking forward to tomorrow. After tomorrow, my students will have study break, so no official lessons! But I think the day will be filled up by 'private tuition'. Having a sore throat already. This time for real. So far I have managed to 'intercept' the condition before it worsened by drinking obscene amounts of water, but as of today, it has failed. So far, no MC yet, and hopefully that will maintain. I enjoy not being sick. Going to work is not a pain at all. Haha...

I gave my maiden lecture today! Yes, after a couple of months, it has finally reached my turn to lecture. I started off a little nervous, but the stage fright feeling was soon gone. The only good thing I can say is that the students were not making that much noise when I was lecturing. Maybe my face was stern? I dunno...anyway, four more periods of lecture (x2 batches) to go! Then the next one is either end of the year or next year...

Sigh. Why does it always rain when I can go home early?

I finally got my Xbox! After much fighting with Starhub customer service, I finally got it. Here's the story: One day on the bus, a telemarketer from Starhub woke me up from my nap, and asked me if I was interested to renew my maxonline contract for a 2-month waiver off the subscription. So I said that I was interested. So he asked me for my email address, said he would send me a form on word document, and I'm supposed to print it out, fill it up, sent it back and he would settle the contract renewal.

So I went home, and thought to myself, "Hmmm...so now my one year contract is up...wonder what other promotions they have?' I tried for the Xbox promotion last year but they said I was not eligible. So this time round, I spotted the promotion again. So I tried, and failed. I went to the service centre at Plaza Singapore, queued for 45 min, and the person told me that they don't handle this at the centre, and I have to apply online. The problem is, I couldn't even apply online. Sometimes I feel like burning that particular service centre down.

Anyway, so I rang up their helpdesk and mentioned my problem. The person checked it up and said I was on the 2-month waiver promotion already. I was incredulous. I mean, how could I have renewed a contract without any documentation? The person said she'd check it out and get back to me. So she did. She said the telemarketer has already put me on the contract. I refused to budge. I told her what actually happened, and I refuse to accept that my contract was renewed on a promotion without my sending in anything. Two days later, a new person called me and said that they can't change this kind of thing. In my mind I was thinking that was pretty much customer service bullshit, and I refused to budge. So finally they called me up, apologized, and said they would send me a voucher.

At that point in time, I wondered if I would have been softer had it not been for the tutelage of someone. I might have just accepted the crap at the point they said they couldn't change it. Anyway, what matters is that now I have a Xbox, and I find out today how limited the game supply for Xbox is. Ah well. A free gift is a free gift. No point complaining.

Dragging my feet along for second day of school. Still feeling tired, despite (almost) full rest last night. Today made good progress with my tutorials. I have no doubt I'll catch up (kekeke) with the other tutors...but the main thing is my students have finally started to bug me after school to answer their questions. On the flipside, I can kiss all my naps goodbye, since I am leaving school past 6 now. The main thing is, today, a couple of them were asking about chem eng, and other subjects, and apparently, my motivational speech yesterday has worked to some extent! At least some of them are showing signs of thinking about their future.

I have no doubt that they will start to do well from this promos on. No one can pull off any miracle except they themselves. What I am doing is giving them the push to start trying.

Back to school again. Of all things, I suffered from insomnia last night. Argh. Slept at 3 am. Running on 3 hr sleep the whole day today. Today's progress with lessons was the slowest ever. I think the other tutors are lording it over me that they are going much faster than me. I don't really mind, because I spent at least half a period pep-talking my classes. I know how much of it would get through to them, but if at least one person is moved by what I said and studies a bit harder I think it would be enough.

Holiday was great. Played a lot of pool, rested a lot, finished a lot of work...fruitful I guess. Hehehe...long one is coming. 10 weeks. I will survive~

Went for a Christian Teachers' Conference this morning. At first I was lamenting that I couldn't even sleep in late on a day off, but I reasoned that next week is one week holiday, so I could catch up on sleep then.

It was really good. The speaker, Dr Richard Edlins, spoke of things that resounded with what I felt even as I entered teaching, and it was a great boost of encouragement. He also mentioned things I never thought about, and I was very moved. The main thing he spoke of that hit me hard was that even Christian teachers may be doing the devil's work for him, and binding our students with chains of bondage.

One of his main points is that many times, we teachers end up passing on the value that we have to get good grades to get a good job, and we end up teaching the students to chase after all the gods of this age: consumerism, technology, and etc. It is very true in a way. What should set a Christian teacher apart is the values he carry. If I, as the teacher in my class, is unable to inculcate the right (biblical) values, and help my students to see the world differently, then who will? Am I churning out the same yuppies out there, or am I building into the lives of my students that they will emerge out of my hands transformed, different, and principled? The Christian teacher in a classroom is like a preacher in a pulpit - I should be teaching my students how to properly live, and live a fulfilling life, not sending them down the same road where they cannot find fulfillment chasing after all the worldly things.

I will watch the things I say even more carefully than I already do. My prayer is that from my hands will emerge youths who are different from their contemporaries. Youths who carry the right values and worldview, and live life fulfillingly. That is all I ask. The grades may merely be the means to get there, and are therefore secondary. Let me find opportunities to touch and shape the character of the students I have.