Appreciate

Thank you for all the wonderful cards, gifts, thoughts and well-wishes last Friday. You guys are the reason why teachers choose to stay on in the teaching profession. 

Sometimes teachers too can become really 'emo' when all things go against us (like unmotivated students, poor results, rude and unappreciative students, stress at work etc etc....) and all I will do is to open my 'treasure trove' of cards written by students and ex-students, read their words and then I'll feel better, dump my emotional baggage and move on, and become even more determined to stay in the teaching profession! 

The best teacher's day gift is to appreciate his/her intentions EVERY day. How to show your appreciation? Participate actively in class, do your homework, prepare and do well for tests/exams - all these are signals to your teacher that you appreciate him/her. Really, it's that simple. 

Speaking about appreciation, I think a lot of us have forgotten about appreciating mother nature for all the good life she has given us. Clean air, water and food to keep us going. We have taken her for granted and continue to pollute the earth with our activities. Yesterday I watched Wall.E and it is about how humans have so much waste on earth that they have no choice but to leave planet Earth and seek other planets to survive...I won't reveal much here. Take this Sept hols and go watch it! We can discuss this animation film in class when school reopens. :)

I've just finished packing and I'm off to Malacca tomorrow for Sec 1 Humanities Field Trip with Mr Daryl, Ms Raksha and 36 Sec 1s. Don't miss us! ;p

MRT hit by flu bug

I think the past few hectic weeks have finally took its toll on me. I'm now running a high fever of 38.6 deg C. The fever has been fluctuating since yesterday night and I really pray I will get well tomorrow because there are just so many loose ends to tie up before you guys go from your one week break. Spamming tissue paper now as my nose runs freely. 

Those of you whom I'm seeing tomorrow, you'd know how to make my day easier yah? Especially my form class who are presenting their OPWs! 

And hand in your files (Sec 2s and 3s) + hydroponics  project! 

Thank you. 

Inconsiderate auntie on train

As I took a train home from City Hall, a middle-aged woman demonstrated the worst of any public commuter.

She hoarded two seats, one for herself, and the other for her belongings. Then she took out a portable DVD player and started to sing along with the Hokkien karaoke DVD! The icing on the cake - she scrubbed her smelly foot as she sang along.

Now tell me, how ungracious can some people be? I'm really at loss for words...

New skin and I'm off for sashimi!

Who are you, Blog Critic? 

After much 'criticisms' and feedback from you guys, I took it constructively and managed to change the look of that plain ol' boring look!

Yay!

You might think this blogskin is lame still. Whatever! I'm not a fashion blogger anyway.

I need to adjust some html settings but I'm rushing out for a sushi meal. For the whole week I've been eating canteen food just like you - now it's time to reward myself with a 5* Japanese cuisine and satisfy my sashimi craving! 

Have a good weekend everyone! :)

Personal choices and decisions, not the government's.

This post goes out especially to my Sec 2s in response to one of their answers made in the recent CA2. I have to address this misconception, or unsound judgment on your part rather, before you move on to the adult world thinking that every problem can be solve using monetary means.

One of the questions asked for measures which Singapore can take in order to increase our low birth rates. Many of you were able to describe and explain the government pro-natalist policies such as tax rebates and baby bonuses to encourage married couples to have more children. 

However, there are a handful of you who suggested very draconian and shocking measures in your answer scripts which I would like to draw your attention to. Some of you have suggested that the government of Singapore can introduce 'penalties' such as 'increased taxes', 'fines' and even 'housing restrictions' to singles and couples who do NOT to have children.

I don't know who put that thought into you - I am surely sure that I didn't ever mention such a crazy measure in my class.  Let's get this right: it's important to boost our birth rates in order for us to maintain healthy population (and hence economic) growth but no government in the world has the right to discriminate citizens who choose to remain single or childless. 

We can encourage people to have more children by dangling carrots, but we have no right to 'punish' people for not having children or remaining single! Please think through carefully in future when you are asked to offer solutions to problems. The solution might sound logical, but an unsound solution will always backfire and cause more problems.

To procreate is a personal decision made between a man and woman in a marriage. Policies can be made to encourage them. But there should never be any policy that dehumanises an individual that treats him/her like a machine to boost productivity!

Do spend some time to reflect on this issue should you be one of the 'guilty' ones suggesting such ludicrous strategies to boost fertility rates. 

Manic Monday

Hey guys I'm still in the midst of marking. Please stop asking me how well/badly you've performed because seriously, even if I have finished marking your script, I can't remember. I have a total of 230 scripts to mark for this CA2 and you'll find out your grades when I return them by the end of this week. 

That's all I've to say today because I'm in a nasty mood. I think you know why. 

MRT needs a good holiday!!!

Let's talk about...

What have you been up to this weekend? Getting a good rest from the CAs I suppose? 

I had a very fruitful morning at TJC this morning where a couple of Geography teachers got together to engage in a discourse about teaching Rivers to Upper Sec students. I sure learnt a lot from some of the very experienced teachers (30years!!! wow, IMBA hor?!) and it was a very beneficial session for me as a relatively 'young' teacher.

See, even teachers spend their weekends to think about how to improve themselves in teaching students effectively. So shouldn't you spend some time reflecting on how to improve your learning? 

How to do that? Talk about it! Like my 'Discourse' with other school teachers today, all we did was to get together and share our experiences on teaching Geography - like what kind of methods work, what won't work, what students like/dislike etc and it was a very meaningful session. If you find yourself having certain difficulties in understanding a subject/topic,  talk to your classmates about it! Ask them how they come to understand, ask them for tips, ask for clarifications. When you talk about it, you start to learn. 

On certain occasions I have overheard some of your conversations  like how you 'up your level', how to 'kill that monster' or whatever in playing computer games. So why don't you ask your friends 'how did you get A1'/'how do you manage to understand this difficult concept' etc? 

Remember, peers are great teachers too! Everyone can be a teacher! 

Sanjin Watermelon Frost Works!

My sore throat didn't feel any better when I woke up today. So I squeezed watermelon powder into my pharynx and wahhhhhhh....it worked wonders! Immediately I felt so relieved with that icy feeling. But the aftertaste was yucky though! Urgh. The throat's still sore now as I type, but not as bad as before.

Lessons went on as usual, with the last 2 periods spent with 2B. Started on the topic of Managing Our Environment and I think they have been too stressed out by the CAs this week. Their minds were not about saving the environment and I don't know how the topic actually digressed to, I quote, 'Playboy mag is sold at the mama shop'. -_-"'

Oh well. Back to marking. Hopefully I can finish all by next week. I'm sure you guys are all excited (or paranoid) about your grades. All the best to Physics tomorrow!

Runny nose

Since so many of you are already on blogosphere, I figured that I might as well join in the fun! :) This is my first post on a 'non-academic' blog! Applause please? Heh. 

I went to class with a runny nose today and it was very annoying. Try it when you are projecting your voice with mucous flowing freely out of your nostrils and down the throat. Very uncomfortable! So bad that I was 'spamming' the tissues...finished like 5 packets today. 

I hope I will get well by tomorrow. Meanwhile my throat is feeling a tad sore. I really, really, really pray that I will feel better by tomorrow. Cannot afford to be ill as it's the last 3 weeks of the term and there's a lot of marking to do!  Or else no results for you! 

This is the CA week...almost half the battle is won (or lost, if you are a pessimist), and please take care of yourself. Eat more vegetables, fruits and drink lots of fluid. Stop drinking those sweetened drinks sold in the canteen - I see some of you gulping like 3 bottles in a day?! That's $3?! Save money, be healthy, and drink tap water!