Two steps forward, one step backward. Those are the sentiments towards my class. Everytime I do something to improve things there will be favourable comments from others. Then one or two people in the class will do something and then the complaints will start and the people who complain will not say who is the cause. He or she will just make a generalization that the whole class is like that. Yesterday I was asked if I do anything at all to improve matters in the class. FRUSTRATING!

Sometimes when you walk into a class, and you see students sleeping, chatting away, the first instinct is to scold them until they sit up. But today I wondered what was their issue that they looked so disillusioned and lacked energy. I wish I could solve their problems but I can't(Besides I don't know what are their problems). I am not a miracle-worker. So you go into class and just do your job that is to teach. But what good is it when teaching takes place and learning doesn't. It was very frustrating to do revision and find out that they want me to reteach everything. They are good kids at heart but with no motivation for their future. I call it the Peter Pan syndrome. They see themselves suspended in time - forever remaining as fun-loving teenagers. When will they see the light? I am waiting........

Just when I am wondering if this is the job for me, I saw a bookmark in my pigeon hole today. One shaped like a ladybird! So sweet! A student had thought of me when travelling and had got it for me. It was really a great surprise. And at the end of a long tiring day somemore....
Will treasure it

Your Scholastic Strength Is Deep Thinking

You aren't afraid to delve head first into a difficult subject, with mastery as your goal.You are talented at adapting, motivating others, managing resources, and analyzing risk. You should major in: PhilosophyMusicTheologyArtHistoryForeign language

What Should You Major In?

Ok no more depressing mumbo-jumbo. Look for the good things in life i say. My friends treated me to dinner yesterday - a very early birthday treat! That was a surprise. It was good food and good company too at Cedele. The food choices are great and the ambience just right. We walked around a bit before having dessert at Coffee Club. That was another great treat! The mud pie is a must try. Big portion but just nice to be shared with 4 people. Hehe.
Now I am trying to find a good salon to have a hair-cut. Hopefully it turns out well.

I went out for dinner with a few friends just now. We were having discussions about our jobs as teachers and one friend asked why do we keep doing what we do with so many unappreciative and ungrateful students. Students who take it for granted that it is our job to stay back at night to help them, to reteach(not revise mind you) last minute everything you have done over the past year, days before the exam, to give them another copy of the homework assignment when they are careless and lose it and the list goes on. Another friend says jokingly that its because we get paid to do so. So just to get paid we need to go through this? Thats when I decided then and there, I cannot be too emotionally attached to this job. If I am going to put in the effort, they have to show and prove to me they deserve it. They may have pressing problems at home or in their love life and they need to choose. Do they want to be victims or overcome these situations? So from now on, I will treat it just as a job, not a passion. Its too hurtful otherwise. Pointless.

Am back after a holiday in Hong Kong. Really needed the break away from work, students and all that marking. It was good also coz I got to spend time with my husband, someone whom I have been neglecting during the school term. Hong Kong was refreshingly different. I was expecting to see rude and loud people and thought that it would be difficult with the language barrier. It wasn't anything like that. The people were warm and friendly and tried their best to communicate with us in their halted English. I really liked their service. The shopping was wonderful - so much variety and at reasonable prices. The shops in Singapore are such a bore in contrast. It's like anywhere else is better than here. Why? It is the service. They really need to improve and learn to be genuinely warm. Not smile at you and greet you as you walk into the shop and then their face changes you as they find out you are not buying anything.
Well I really had a great time there. After the high that comes with a holiday comes the low of getting back to the routine of things. It is such a chore but at least there's still a few days more before school starts. Time to catch up with old friends.

And there it comes - ranting and venting as students call it. Do I call parents to complain? Yes, when the student is going astray. When you are not in school or late, yes I am upset because you are telling me that my advice or lessons are not important. You are sending a message that you don't care. It doesn't matter if you don't think it. The image you portray through your actions and behaviour is what counts. It is because as an adult and as a teacher its my job to make sure my students perform their best not only in their academic work but also that they learn the right vaules. It is my job to make sure they are prepared for their next step. It is my job to be the adult in the situation. So hate me if you must - Somebody has to pull you from the dream world you are living in. Passion and talent is one thing. Priorities is another. If you get your balance right, you don't need to give up anything.
I took music for 15 years of my life. So don't tell me I understand nothing about passion. My schoolwork suffered a lot coz of my so called passion for the art. Though I have been enriched a great deal by the experience, if I had set my priorities right, I would have done better in my studies. I realise it now and it would have helped if someone had taken the time to tell me to then.
When we adults scold it is with the hindsight we have. But I guess students these days want to make their own mistakes and learn from their mistakes. So I am wrong - point noted. Students want to jump into the river and struggle. Teachers are not allowed to pull them out even if they see them struggling. Even when they are gasping for breath, we should stand and do nothing. Point definitely noted.
Why do I get so upset and call parents? Because at some point when the kid does badly and I don't inform them, the parents may ask why they were the last to find out. And if I was a parent, I would ask the same thing. So the kids may hate me for calling their parents, but they don't know what went on in that conversation. Sometimes I think they don't realise that we used to be teenagers too who used to feel inadequate and went through a lot in our teens. I don't need to reveal my whole teenage life to show I understand.
I am upset that my intentions have been misconstrued. But a job needs to be done, and just because it is misunderstood, it doesn' t mean that I will stop doing it.

I am sitting in school on a Friday afternoon during the second week of the school holidays. Why? Waiting for students to hand in their files and books. Will they turn up? I don't think so. Why do I wait? In the wild hope that some of them will remember. I have been asking for the books and files for the past two weeks. And yet some of them when asked today tell me they will give it to me on Monday. I do not understand how this can happen. I really don't.
Some of them are still having fun thinking there is still time. You keep telling them to wake up their ideas but they do not. What they do not realise is that if they start their revision too late, they will not have the energy to study for long periods. Just like a body needs conditioning to get fit, the brain needs to get used to increased activity. You cannot cram a lot of information into the brain and think that is will be able to process all that information quickly. The brain will break down, headaches appear and the body shuts down. And what if this happens during the o levels? Welll I can watch as a bystander because at some point enough is enough. I cannot keep nagging at them.

The Lion Sleeps Tonight

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