Well by now the English exam is over.. Hope all did well.....

Was talking to a few students after the first paper when one of the girls was telling me how her friends from another school and her were laughing at the book of essays given by the P. The essays were by other sec 4 students from this school. They probably put in a lot of thought into crafting as original narratives as possible. This book is distributed to every graduating student so they get some ideas for narratives. She was telling me thinking I would find if funny as well. But I didn't. What disturbed me about what she said was that she had laughed along with the friends from another school. It was as if she had transferred schools and she had nothing to do with this school. Silly girl - doesn't she even realise? Like it or not the school name is synonymous with her wherever she goes. Whether it is abroad or here, every job she applies for she needs to put down her school name. I was quite shocked at how elitist she was. It must be quite cool to get together with outside friends and run down your own school but don't you get it? You are part of that school too. You may stop wearing the uniform but it is your alma mater. I can imagine her future conversations going like this " Oh you are from XX(an estd school)? I am from an unknown school " Who is losing out here? And worse when the friend from the other school made a comment like " Oh your school standard is so low, I was going to do argumentative but now I'll do narrative since all the other schools like yours writes such bad essays" she didn't even defend the school.

When you run down a school you run down everything else that goes with it like your friends who have worked hard to put the school on the map through their wonderful performances in music and CCA, the teachers who go the extra mile to sit down and explain patiently to you the concepts and you yourself who is a product of the school. Coz you don't say what exactly needs to be improved but run down the school name instead. It's sad because it's not a competitor or another school student who does it but you. It is like going to a party. The organiser tries to get you to take part in the activities. You sit in a corner and complain that it is boring without even making the effort to try. Maybe you are really naive and don't realise what you are doing. Maybe you feel it is cool to be ashamed of your school. Maybe I haven't been a good teacher and taught you these things. Whatever the reason, the person who is going to lose out in the long run is you.

English Exam

Tomorrow is the day of the English exam. All the work done in the past year will culminate in that one exam. Whatever I have or have not done will be reflected in that exam. I have gone through the various types of situational writing such as speech, formal letter, informal letter, report, proposal, article and programme leaflet. I have gone through the format, made them do it and have given samples. They have a whole book of essays. And they have practised about 7 of other school papers in the last term alone. For argumentative or expository essays they need to read the question carefully and then follow the structure they are used to. For narrative they need the descriptions and the feelings of people. So now, it's all in their hands. (I feel so helpless)It's difficult I know. They have Maths, SS, Chemistry, English, Physics and Geog all in the same week. It's going to be a draining week. Yet I hope that they remember the right things at the right time and that inspration strikes them and they write wonderful stories. God Bless All of US!

Paradox

An ex-colleague once told me that I am harsh with students as I don't have kids of my own whereas those with kids will tend to be more understanding of their students. Now I wonder if it's because I am too harsh with students that I don't get to have kids.