…is certainly more meaningful compared to the first. This is probably cos…
- I have a civics group this year (for the uninitiated, civics group = form class. And I have a lovely, lovely one this year!)
- I’ve spent more time with the students as compared to last year.
- Due to the workload for J2s, I’ve had more opportunities to interact with the students, mainly for schoolwork.
- Have had more time to interact with them either on a one-to-one basis or in small groups.
- Had the chance to both laugh with them AND be exasperated at them.
- Had more opportunities to listen to them.
- Had more opportunities to share with them.
And I know that there is so much more that can be done!
I started off this year aspiring to be a tyrant, as I was still seething from the painful labour that was otherwise known as PW (looking back, it was painful but yet enjoyable. Masochistic, I am.). But seriously, looking at the three amazing classes I have this year (completed unbiased opinion! Others concur!) - how to be tyrannical? So I was probably a LEETLE too relaxed.
Perhaps that is why, perhaps not too coincidentally, I am referred to as the ‘hip’ teacher O.o
Anyway, back to today….it was heartwarming to receive those gifts and cards and notes and flowers and SMS messages from the students (and colleagues!), some of whom I’d often wondered if anything I said had gone into the grey mass at all. Through the notes and cards, I learnt more about my impact.
Just make me feel a little more useful today can? 
My civics group presented me with a really thoughtful gift - something that was completely ME - and I appreciated it even more because it would have taken precious time off their already limited study time for the (ongoing!) prelims.
Another extremely heartwarming moment came in the form of an SMS message from a boy whom many have sighed over for being flippant and seemingly lazy. I had the opportunity to have a short chat with him a couple of days ago and receiving the SMS from him today was totally unexpected. I have two more months with him - I really really hope to push this boy further into what he is totally capable of.
There is just so much that a teacher can do, and yet so little time for us to do it all. I just feel very blessed with students who are relatively self-disciplined and possess enough drive for us to just give them a little nudge every now and then.
Happy Teacher’s Day to all those who are in this vocation - we know we are there for a reason 
Now, back to the grind of what is otherwise known as prelims marking …. whee………
