Picnic Basket

I have at least 2 to make up for them.

Reminds me that it’s all worth it again.

…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………

I was up almost all night, falling asleep over the essays, kicking and swearing that the students had a conspiracy theory to drive me to madness with their illegible handwriting and nonsensical logic.

Came to school a slightly blurry teacher. Was still groggy.

Went into the classroom and all things became clear and everything fell into place.

Yes I do love my job

I teach 3 classes - my own form class (Literature and Geography), another Arts class (History class) and a science class (Physics/Chemistry).

I like to think that I treat them all equally (but not the same) and sometimes, it is amusing to see how their chosen subjects affect the way they work.

So on Tuesday and Wednesday, for the History class and the Science class respectively, I conducted this icebreaker game. Basically, we are starting on a new unit on Science and Technology, so I made about 25 flash cards, each containing either a scientific or technological breakthrough, and asked each group to arrange each card in chronological order.

Not that easy ok –> which came first - the Human Genome project or Dolly the Sheep? Did Einstein come up with eequalsmcsquared first or did they discover cell theory first?

So what the Science class did was this (both groups):

1. Categorise the cards into medicine/chemistry/physics, etc.

2. Each group to be split into different sub-groups.

3. Each sub-group to organise their assigned cards. In the meantime, you could see them consulting their physics/chem notes.

4. Come together.

What did the History class do? This is what one group did that cracked me up.

Leader-esque boy: "Okay, we’ll just divide up these cards into Pre-WWI, Between WWI and WWII, and After WWII.

T_T

And so that was what they did.

My own class? They just got together, and tried to use logical reasoning to arrange them "Eh must discover bacteria first then only can they discover *something else* what."

One of the best things about teaching is how unique each student is, though they are all fed the same stuff and all pushed through the same examination machine.

And one of the best things about teaching GP/English/other related subjects is that one gets to learn so much about the student through his/her writing. And I am not just talking about journal entries (which are ALWAYS featured in movies I don’t know why), but just their assignments, their *gasp* AQ responses. The kind of values they hold onto, the views they have - all these are just there for you to read and respond to in black and white.

It’s been a tough week so far but yes, can you tell that I still love my job, after one year (Yes, it has been a year! Just got confirmed!)

One of the many challenges I face as a teacher is - how do you help a student who is just not getting it?

He is a wonderful student - completely attentive in class, makes notes, actually studies for GP, and practises his work regularly.

I don’t know how to break it to him tomorrow that he is still not doing well.

More one-to-one sessions coming up I guess…

That I’ve come to the realisation that however much I give, it will never be enough.

That there are certain things that I could say to clear up some things, but I choose not to say them as there is no necessity to.

That maybe I am tasting disappointment for the first time.

That this may be one of the biggest challenges yet.

After (yet another) turbulent night, I need to get myself together.

An example would be the ongoing conflict between the radical Islamics and most of the world. The radical Islamics felt that they were not accorded the respect and status they deserved and were always worrying among themselves that Islam will be taken over by the other religions or countries. They felt that the Gulf War was a very good example and thus, they decided to strike the first blow by crashing a plane into America’s World Trade Centre, known also as the Twin Towers, and the Pentagon. This triggered off a furious response by the Americans who sent troops into the Middle East to try and capture those responsible for the attacks and to disarm countries that they believed possessed weapons of mass destruction.