momo and study panda

And Christmas was over

2011-12-29T00:50:00.000+08:00

In the staff lounge on 21 December... hee, a bit late to send out the Christmas cards by snail mail... but it's the thought that counts right? I was writing Christmas cards for three of my most awesome buddies in my NIE GESL group.

And study panda is back! For a while he was buried under a pile of stationeries and I'm glad I rediscovered him. Here's study panda on my workstation in the staffroom.

Unfortunately, the school holidays have rapidly sped pass and soon it will be 2012. In a flash, a new school term will begin. Working days already started earlier today - or rather yesterday as it's already past midnight - as I had a meeting in the morning, a short one with the other level managers in my committee. Seven hours later, our staff meeting will start promptly at 8am, and department meeting in the afternoon at 2:30pm. On Friday, there will be committee meeting in the morning and a short meeting for the lower secondary science level coordinators in the afternoon. I will no longer be straddling two departments next year and will be a 100% physics teacher. Yay, because I love physics!

Right, I'd better be sleeping now... two meetings in seven hours' time; I shouldn't zombify myelf. It's time to retune my waking hours! Good night everyone, if anyone's reading.

Vacation to Sydney

2011-12-15T12:20:00.000+08:00

A leisure post... lucky momo junior gets to travel with me!

I had awesome brunches in Australia. In fact every meal was awesome!

I was often accompanied by the sight of Sydney Habour Bridge and Sydney Opera House.

I was hanging out with my dear NIE buddy JW in Sydney, and wine was cheap.

We enjoyed the trip, and I guess momo junior too!

We went to Hyde Park, a clean and beautiful park in the city.

We went to Powerhouse Museum and the Art Gallery of New South Wales. We went for a play in Sydney Opera House too!

We went to Bondi Beach where the sky's so blue and the sea's so clear. Look at how the colour changes as the sea gets from shallow to deep... it's amazingly gorgeous!

Dinner at Coogee with JW and momo junior after spending a day at the beach.

Coogee Beach was where I went mad and took countless jump shots.

I'm in love with the University of Sydney! Can I come here to do my masters please?

We went to lovely Victoria Park, which is just in front of the Quadrangle, University of Sydney.

We went to many places, and on the last day we went to Cockatoo Island for the Graffiti Festival.

And we had yummy warm pies at Cafe de Wheels.

Finally, the vacation had to come to an end. I wished I had gone for a longer trip!!

It was absolutely divine. I love holidays and I can't wait for my next vacation!

Staff Retreat

2011-11-19T20:43:00.001+08:00

Darling star of the blog momo junior is back!

I spent a wonderful day with my colleagues!

Strategic Workplanning

2011-11-12T22:20:00.000+08:00

Today at my school's strategic workplanning workshop, we were engaged in a discussion about this quote:

"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education."
-- Mark Twain

Many colleagues shared their points of view about this, even some student leaders who were present in the morning segment. Some colleagues agree and some disagree, depending on their point of view of the word "interfere". The students shared that they believe education is a lifelong process, and should not be restricted to just schooling. My vice principal also shared his story. He mentioned that when he was a teenage, a friend lent him a book which he enjoyed reading, and he started borrowing more books from the library and learned more from reading, which is of course outside of schooling too.

This reminded me of my own story.

The first time that I ever get in touch with such a thing called "internet", I was in JC first year. Within the first few month, my friend and I explored emails, websites, and even chatted with random strangers on mIRC. I was so intrigued by the internet that I went to the library and borrowed books to read up on how the websites were created. I read and read on my own time, outside of school hours, on a topic that is not relevant to my school subjects. But I did not let schooling interfere with me educating myself on HTML! I'm not a fan of WYSIWYG software and I create webpages from scratch using Notepad. By the end of year one, I am writing my own HTML codes, setting up my own websites, and catching up on CSS. I was quite proficient in HTML and CSS when I was an undergrad. When I started working, I wrote my own little textbooks on HTML for colleagues who are interested, gave them homework and helped them set up their websites too. I was an engineer who was already creating lesson packages!

I miss those days when I created so many websites. It was a joy, my favourite hobby, the only thing I want to do when I have any time to spare. Sometimes I wonder, where have those days gone to? As technology advances, programmes, websites and software keep changing and updating... And I haven't been catching up. Does that mean I have lost a skill? It's time to start catching up somewhere. I shall not let teaching interfere with my education!

Bad dreams

2011-09-16T07:00:00.000+08:00

I had bad dreams for two consecutive nights, and they drained me of my energy even as I sleep. I woke up feeling like I haven't slept at all. And the scary part is the dreams are all work-related.

In the first dream, I forgot to mark attendance for my class. And when I go to relief a class I was late and the entire class disappeared and the principal demanded to know what happened. Two things gone wrong in one day in the dream is enough to sap all the energy away from me.

In the second dream, a colleague told me that he/she (I can't remember!) is down with 1-week MC and I had to relief him/her and cover all his/her lessons in the week, on top of my own hectic schedule.

The dreams are scaring me too much. I just hope that it means the total opposite. At least yesterday we did take attendance for my class, and my relief period with the sec 4NT class was ok.

Sharing during staff meeting

2011-09-13T23:00:00.000+08:00

Teaching kept me busy! Finally I remember this blog and came to add a little update.

Today, the teachers who attended teachers' mass lecture at Singapore Expo weeks ago did a short presentation during staff meeting to share their reflections after the lecture. We are reflective practioners and so we reflect. We are not selfish (of course!) and so we share. And I was one of the seven lucky chosen one to attend the lecture with our P and VP. After today's sharing, a couple of colleagues commented that they really like my sharing because I was very passionate throughout my sharing and I guess my passion can get quite contagious.

I love teaching. I love good values. And I believe having good values can bring one very very far. And yes I am passionate, I want to help my students pick up the good values along the way, values that will shape them into upright citizens, contributing both to the nation and globally. I want to motivate them to actively seek the good values which they will hold true to themselves for a long long time to come. It's this passion that keeps me going each and every day. Each teachable moment is a moment worth putting any other subject matter aside, to focus on the utmost important values that will help the students maintain a positive attitude, see in the right perspective, give them the resilience to overcome all odds, and spur them on towards excellence.

Just a little whining

2011-07-22T22:45:00.012+08:00

Oh, I haven't been to blogger.com for so long, I didn't even know the entire structure and layout of the website have changed! Now it looks so simple and plain, which actually also makes it more professional and easier to navigate too. Nice!

I realized I love teaching. I knew I love teaching but I didn't know it can be so intense. I love to coach my students, even when some others think they are 'beyond repair'. I love to see my students learn, love to see them improve, love to see them become better people. I love to prepare lessons to engage my students. I love to see the excitement in their eyes. I love to see my students thinking. I love inculcation of values and character education. Even though I had doubts about my CCA at the beginning of the year, I've grown to love it too. I love everything that I do as a teacher, even when it keeps me awake until the wee hours, and leave me with no time for my family and friends. I love this job all the same. It's just so cool, so much satisfaction, so much love and passion!

The only thing that scares me is the people.

Sometimes people talk too much.

It's over

2011-06-20T21:45:00.000+08:00

Holidays... gone too soon!

To reflect

2011-05-03T16:25:00.000+08:00

What do we want our students to learn?
How will we know they are learning?
How will we respond when they learn?
How will we respond when they do not learn?

I want to do a much better job for my next lesson observation!!!

2.4km run

2011-04-09T10:45:00.027+08:00

The past few weeks were super hectic. I spent Monday of the one-week term break at a CME workshop, Tuesday to Thursday was my CCA's camp, Friday was at a mathematics problem solving seminar. Everyday was packed. Besides that, eversince the term break I've spent many hours at home planning for my sec 1 LCE lesson package and setting mid-year exam papers. Why couldn't I do them in school? Well, besides teaching, there's always the usual marking, lesson preparation, extra lessons after school, CCA, meetings, writing minutes and ordering refreshments for some of the meetings, talking to parents and talking to students, mediating between parents and students, bringing students out, and going to conferences etc, and of course vetting follows closely after paper setting. I have been designing a unit plan that also requires me to update a web portal and take some videos. And of course I have been repeating myself like a broken record... motivating students to be better people, better students, better classmates, better friends and better children to their parents. I didn't want to really list everything I've done; I know it's usual for teachers to have all their waking hours packed, and I guess this entry would go on nonstop if I actually made a list.

As I spent long hours in school and did my lesson planning and paper setting at home after school, I slept very little at night and yesterday the effect finally sets in. My student asked me a question on another school's past year paper and I was staring at the question with my mind all blank. Or all messed up with so much things that I was doing. And the student commented, "Teacher, MCQ only why you take so long? Teacher also don't know how to do ah?" And I replied, "Wait, too much things inside my mind now, give me a minute to clear it and give you the explanation to this question." I felt bad for making the student wait, and felt embarassed as well. I'm the teacher, I'm supposed to be an expert in the content and be able to give answers at the soonest. It wasn't a good experience. And so I slept early last night. Actually, I slept early last night mainly due to the fact that I was very tired. I was the road marshall for the lower secondary 2.4km run.

When I was a secondary school student, we ran 2.4km around a pavement that has no shade around it, we had no first aid stations and no teacher marshalls. It's just a bunch of all of us running and running, turning around the cone at 1.2km-mark, and ran back. The teachers stood at the starting/finishing line to give us the numbers, with which we would countercheck with the list of timing that would be pinned up in school later. Those were the days, and time has changed.

Yesterday i was one of the road marshalls stationed along the way of my school's 2.4km run in the neighbourhood park. There were teachers stationed along the entire stretch, braving the weather, with no toilet breaks, throughout the duration of the sec 1 run then the sec 2 run. Student cadets from Red Cross were deployed as first aiders along with every road marshalls, stationed every 200m to 300m away. The road marshalls and first aid stations were very necessary to tackle the problems that may arise, otherwise teachers will be busy tackling complaints from parents and that's the last thing we want in our hectic schedule. During the run, there were students that stopped and complained of pain, asking for water, and some felt dizzy, probably due to the heat exhaustion or dehydration. The stretchers were utilized twice and the Red Cross cadets kept busy. I had to send a student home in another teacher's car because that PE teacher is a man and he's not chinese. We brought the girl home and I had to explain in mandarin to the family member what happened.

When I was a student, I collapsed at a 2.4km run before due to my horrible cramp. I hate that my cramps always bring me down and I am still enduring it now, many years later. In fact I was aiming for the MC-less award but one night this semester I was sent to the hospital due to my cramp and I had to stay at home for a day. That must be the one and only thing I really hated, and well that's really beside the point. Back to my story, I was in a lot of pain but I pressed on until I came to the 1.2km-mark and couldn't move anymore. Being at the 1.2km-mark, it also meant that I was so far away from everyone. In the end a teacher cycled to where I was to collect the cone and sent me back to school on his bicycle. That's the end of it. I still had to go home on my own. Ok, I sounded jealous, didn't I? I'm not, I'm glad that what I went through made me stronger. I just want to say that time has changed and students these days are really more dependent and less resilient than some of us back then when we were their age. But this is something very real and something that we can't really help, or need to put in a lot of collaborative effort between staff and parents to change. I always remind myself that anything and everything that we could change we will change, but it must only be for the better.

First 2 days

2011-01-05T21:45:00.020+08:00

School has started for a new term and I am now the form teacher of a secondary 1 express class. And in these 2 days, I have been kept busy from 7am to 6pm, and I had not even done anything academic! There was a lot of admin stuff - updating the contact information of the parents of students in my form class, splitting classes into bands and churning out the new bands' namelists, sending emails to inform teachers of my students' special conditions, preparing slides (character development) for department meeting, then sending the slides out to the department, giving out the materials to secondary 1 teachers for the pastoral care lessons, returning books that I don't need anymore, and getting books that I need from fellow colleagues, discussions, meetings, updating database, collecting money for orientation t-shirts, updating shared folders, typing minutes, printing materials, learning about new CCA, learning about students' conditions that are new to me. When I'm not doing all those, I'm with my form class, getting to know them, settling admin stuff with them like getting them to update the contact details and submit the money for orientation t-shirts, telling them about school rules and regulations, and forming the class committee. And for the next 2 days I will be in nowhere but school, as I will be camping overnight in school with the secondary ones as part of the orientation programme.

Sounds like a lot of things but I'm actually quite enjoying myself because I felt that my time was all well spent and will definitely be more and more well spent over the year. I'm a bit worried about not being very prepared to start with the other classes as I'm spending this entire week with my secondary one form class, and hoping that each day is longer so I can spend some time brainstorming about new teaching ideas... something I've grown to enjoy tremendously. A little woe that I didn't even stop to drink water today and now I'm kinda developing a little sore throat which would be quite a spoilsport for the 2-day camp. Another thing that worries me is the new CCA which seems to be quite overwhelming, but the other teachers-in-charge are nice people and all's been good so far as they try not to traumatize me right from the beginning of the year. The things that are gone are momo and study panda but that won't be permanent... I will try to find time to get them involved in my activities and snap some shots. Just don't expect that to happen soon!

Time flies

2010-11-04T10:50:00.000+08:00

And kids changed too. Kids are getting violent, vocal and very challenging for parents and teachers to educate them the correct values and knowledge.

Somehow, most young people these days are taking things for granted, especially the compulsary education, and many are also self-centred, thinking that the world revolves around them and everyone else owes them. When anything happens that is against their wish and desire, they will blame the schools, blame the rules, blame the teachers, blame the parents, blame their guardians or grandparents or siblings or more. It will never be them.

Holiday homework. We cut down on the holiday homework because we want them to have a good holiday season, without parents complaining about them not taking a break. Homework that can be done within one sitting in a day for a disciplined kid, and definitely not take more than 3 days to complete if a kid wants a break. It is definitely not too much. We can't let them go without homework because knowing them, 2 full months with all play and no revision will not benefit them in the new semester. And so the kids complain, as usual. They said they are busy, so much things to do, they hate homework, why do we have to give them homework, they have no time for homework. No time, no time, no time!! And then on the other hand, in Facebook they wrote that they are bored, nothing to do, everyday rotting at home, holidays are so boring... They hate the homework so they complain with invalid excuses. Unlike how it was like... I had 100s of maths problems to solve over my holidays and we tried to get it over and done with so we could enjoy the holidays. When it comes to homework, whining doesn't help, so what's the use? The more one procrastinate, the worse the holidays get. When will the current batch of students understand this?

Having said all that, I still want to say that teaching is the best job ever. Ever ever ever. Haha. And time flies. Soon the holidays will be over and a new year will come, a new semester, a new term, with new batches of students.

Happy holidays.

I need to see a shrink?

2010-09-22T21:15:00.005+08:00

My morbid self has been around for around 2 decades... it makes me think sick morbid thoughts, the kind that I personally resent and resist, my heart and my mind find extremely disgusting, and many times sends a shiver down my spine. It seems to be living inside me but not a part of me. The more my brain shouts "STOP! I CAN'T TAKE THIS NONSENSE ANYMORE!" the more the morbid images flash in my mind. Sometimes it makes me feel so sick I thought I'd stopped breathing. I couldn't suppress it well but I didn't let it affect my life much. Afterall it's been around for so many years. Now it is overpowering me with details that are too gross to be typed out here. It's overwhelming. I'm scared.

Does it happen to you too? I hope I'm not alone.

Are they serious?

2010-08-18T23:25:00.003+08:00

The young people are liking stuff like this in Facebook.

"Why are you talking during my lesson?" - "Why are you teaching during my conversation?"

(-_-") Seriously. If you need to be engaged in a conversation, do it outside class and not during my lesson! Disruption from a single person can jeopardize the learning of the entire class. Students who wants to learn can't hear me. Stopping to stop the disruptive students slows down the progress of the whole class. Disruptive students who want to live in their own world in class, they are simply overly self-centred. Yet such students exists in many classes, and the behaviour is getting rampant. "Why are you teaching during my conversation?" Such attitude was unheard of in the past... so what's wrong with students these days?! Well kid, I won't want to teach during your conversation too, so may be I should just shut up and let you talk now, fail later.

Hi tea with Cuzz

2010-06-21T22:55:00.006+08:00

Had hi tea with dear Cuzz, who is also a teacher teaching physics and mathematics in a local secondary school.

Went to her place after hi tea and look what she has? Manga guides to physics, electricity and calculus!

Between my last entry and this one, I've been to Batam twice! Once with RN, CL and KN, and another time was just me with JW. Everyone said we must enjoy our holidays before school reopens, so we had lots of fun, and slacked as much as we could too! =)

Visit to ITE College East

2010-06-08T21:55:00.001+08:00

I had breakfast at Tampines before heading to ITE College East by bus.

Cute pens in the shape of fingers in various poses.

Around the campus... it was a rainy day...

Do you miss momo junior? :D

ITE College East was crowded with trainee teachers from NIE. After having lunch at the reception, we went to JC's place for a little fun-filled gathering. I'll really miss them lots in time to come!

Cannot

2010-06-05T09:55:00.000+08:00

I cannot be disappointed for long. It is bad for my health.

I must not allow my high expectation to ruin my motivation and bring about such great disappointment that dropped all my self confidence. I will survive.

And I am going to shake all those bad vibes away from me now, because it is time for a short weekend getaway with my GESL buddies, and I need to be in good mood to truly enjoy it. I cannot waste my holidays.

I must maximize everything. My students' potential, my time in school, my time for myself, and my holidays too. I'll be back!

Result is out

2010-06-04T23:55:00.002+08:00

I only get a pass for my practicum. Not even a pass with credit, which greatly disappoints me, after all the time and effort I've put in. Nothing will be changed though, so I just have to live with it, and trudge on into the unknown. I can't believe I'm feeling dejected, even before I started teaching. Sigh.

My GPA for this semester isn't as good as last, but overall I get a pass with credit for my PGDE. End of report.

Facebook

2010-05-13T08:25:00.010+08:00

Children nowadays are difficult to manage, because there are a lot of external influences on their lives, and Facebook is one of them.

I see my students "like" (it was "become a fan" previously) pages that say:
The 10 Sneakiest Ways to Cheat on an Exam!
I knew 3 things on my test ; name, class & date.
Studying is a waste of time!
Teachers scolding is more interesting than teaching.
I will literally get distracted by ANYTHING when it comes to revising.
I used to be smart, then I got lazy.
Staring blankly at your homework instead of doing it
I just THROW my schoolbag aside when I come home from school.
I leave all my assignments until the last minute then I want to die.
In class - sleep mode on.... After class - Hyperactive STARTS!!!
I hate when the teacher talks to everyone but stares DIRECTLY at me
I HATE EXAMS
Parents call it "bad grades", we call it "still passing".
I love when teachers tell the class stories that makes the class waste time
YEAH I STUDIED. Then I forgot everything when I saw the paper.
"Can i copy your homework?" " yea but IDK if there right." " I dont care"
"I need to study!" *Opens book*"..I don't feel like studying" *Closes book*
BUT MUM AND DAD.. MY FRIEND FAILED THE TEST TOO!!!!
I WISH I COULD FIT A 2GB MEMORY CARD IN MY BRAIN For EXAMS
I don't have bad handwriting. I have my own Font
I would rather FACEBOOOK than FACE my BOOKS :P
Teachers Call It Cheating, We Call It Teamwork.
I study for MINUTES and take a break for HOURS.
If math had a face I'd punch it
Maths Should Grow Up, And Solve it's Own Problems
Giving people code names so you can talk about them freely.
I end up on FB whenever I try to study for exams...
Why can't we chew gum in school? we'd talk less.
No school days on Friday! Need 5,000,000 school students to make official
Teacher "ur interupting my lesson!" Kids: "ur interupting our conversation!
We are always told by teachers to pick up litter,but do they ever do it??
Deliberately avoiding eye contact with the teacher so they won't pick you.
WE GO TO SCHOOL FOR 6 HOURS DO WE REALLY NEED HOMEWORK
School should be cancelled when the weather gets over 30°C
I'm studying my ass off right now...LOL jk, I'm on Facebook liking everything.

I would love to copy everything here but each of the students can actually "like" up to 1000s of such pages! Some of them are undeniably true, but these are also things that we don't even think about when we were students! And there they are, ganging up in a virtual world to spread these "causes" of a modern student. Such is the life of our modern-day students, always caring about themselves more (than their studies or parents or teachers) and very very vocal. We have difficulty handling such, because we did not grow up in the era of internet and Facebook and we experienced a very different kind of school life. I can't wait until these children grow up and have their own children. I wonder how would they score as parents to the next era of children?

And I assume you already know that their favourite videos on Youtube is "Annoying Orange"...

Back to a student's life

2010-05-12T07:15:00.002+08:00

It's good to be back to the being a student without the assignments and stuff... now it's time for us to relax and take a break before going ahead with full force as we immerse ourselves into the career as full-time teachers.

Finally, back in the familiar place where we've spent close to 12 hours each weekday in the past semester, rushing through individual and group assignments together until the sun has set and leaving campus only after the library has closed.

It's really great to meet up and catch up with fellow NIE peers! There are just too many stories to share after practicum... I feel that these few weeks will not be enough for us. But fret not, I believe we will continue to share, be it now or later. The close friendship that we've forged within one year in NIE will be kept close to our hearts, and we shall remain just as close-knitted ts before, to give one another ample encouragement and support as we trudge on in the field of education.

Received a piece of good news: All the pre-service teachers that were having final practicum in my practicum school... all of us will be posted back to the same school! We will meet again, and we will be going through thick and thin together... again! Just like during practicum times. Isn't that sweet? I mean, we thought we would be separated, but now we still have one another. And we will survive the BT years together!

And it's over

2010-05-09T15:00:00.002+08:00

The last day came and went in a flash.

It was a mad rush for me and some of my practicum mates in the school. The students from various levels and both subjects that we teach, they were hogging us for consultation and we were with them until well over 5pm. We did not have time to bid goodbye to our P, VPs or CTs at all! And then there was another mad rush to clear up our work stations. Of course I've already brought home some stuff the few days before. I've left my practicum file behind, hoping to check through it on my last day and print the missing pieces. But alas, there was no time to do so at all! And so I've brought everything back just like that, without even sorting them out nicely and filing them in. I've returned the textbooks and materials to my wonderful CTs, and gave them the Thank You cards and presents that I've written and chosen for them. We didn't have time though to give the Thank You cards to the school leaders and office staff personally, and so one practicum mate went around to give them out on everyone's behalf, while the rest of us were kept engaged by our students.

Four of us had dinner together after leaving the school at 6 plus in the evening. My husband and his friend joined us for dinner, and then I joined them for movie after dinner. I'm missing my practicum mates already and I hope to see them again real soon!

Overall this 10 weeks have been a very fruitful experience for me, and I'm looking forward to returning to the school for more... the journey has yet to begin. And tomorrow I'll be back in NIE, back to rejoin my NIE peers that I've been missing. I foresee lots of catching up and story sharing!

Approach of the last day

2010-05-06T22:00:00.000+08:00

It's the last day of practicum tomorrow!

Today I had my last lessons with 2 classes. I'll have one more class tomorrow and my practicum will officially be over. My students have been really sweet and my CTs are even sweeter! Today my maths CT gave me some really sweet presents with a heart warming Thank You card, and I really appreciate the gesture, especially when she's always so busy and tied down with school stuff, it'd be extra effort to prepare the presents and card for me. And I thought I should be the one giving her those (I've bought them yesterday when I met JK and RN for dinner at a mall, but I think I need to get more stuff now) instead of her giving me. She's really sweet. :) I'm really fortunate to have all the nicest CTs for my ESE as well as my practicum. They are all very generous, always ready to share with me, and never fail to show appreciation. I'm truly very blessed.

After tomorrow, the next time I step into the school will be as a full time teacher. I'll do my best and not let my CTs or my students down.

Last week of practicum

2010-05-04T16:25:00.008+08:00

Time flies so fast, it's freaking me out!

It felt like that was only yesterday when I registered myself at NIE, and started going to lectures, rushing my essay assignments, discussing my group assignments... and then in a blink of an eye, my practicum is going to be over in 3 days. I'll be back in NIE for a few more short courses and then on the 14th of next month, I'll be reporting back here in this school as a full time teacher.

I really wish NIE days were longer... I'm so going to miss all my buddies in NIE!!! Hope we will still have the time to hang out together once in a while after next month.

And I'll miss my students too. The energetic young people who have given me both hell and heaven in the past 8 or 9 weeks. I wonder what classes I'll take when I'm back next semester, and what kind of students I'll meet. We'll know soon enough.

PS. Remember the mini treats? My students came to my desk for consultation, claimed that they were hungry, and finished all of them!

Taken off a Facebook page

2010-04-30T15:35:00.011+08:00

Random things that I saw on this discussion board titled "Maths Teachers" in a Facebook page... just to share:

lol, my class scared off a trainee maths teacher... we wouldn't shut up, and he started shakin, and the next lesson our normal teacher took over again and said that the trainee had decided "that teaching wasn't for him" lol, we were creased for the rest of the lesson, and we brag about it to our friends :) hilarious

i hate half of my teachers, they're evil :(

yup... i know what you mean. i get it and get the fact that most teacher are really evil and all.

they all treat me like shit and crap. i didn't get any help or anything and i was like invisible to them like i didn't exist to them not even one or two teacher. i didn't get to say what i want to say and i did not get to do what other people get to do in class or in school. if i ask for help in school, they won't even help me at all and that is just friggin' bullshit right there.

If u guys would observe carefully then u will notice that mathematics teachers are slightly retarded and they get angry easily

Anyway if you've realized... well I think no one ever had... but anyway... I think I have a little OCD... Yes, so if you've realized, I always round off all my entries' time stamps to the nearest 5 minute. Somehow I have to do it. Even if I didn't, when I read the entry again I'll freak out at the time stamp and edit it. It must be to the nearest 5, if not I'll feel very uneasy!! Oh my, this is madness. And yes I added this last paragraph when I logged in to edit this entry's time stamp.

How to help

2010-04-29T08:15:00.000+08:00

How to help these students?

They are not afraid of punishments.

They are not afraid of caning.

They are not afraid of the police.

They are not afraid of any consequences.

We've chatted, we've nagged, we've told them stories.

They are not scared by unsuccessful life stories.

And they are not motivated by successful ones.

They refuse to give a minute to think for themselves.

How to help them?

Do we really just leave them alone and let them wither?

Silly silly

2010-04-27T20:45:00.002+08:00

I did something really silly in class yesterday.
I have to keep reminding myself that it will never ever happen again!

My students may seem beyond control, but I will not give up!
Sometimes I'm surprised by my own determination.

My students can make my day, or break it.
And that will only make me a stronger and better teacher.

Mini treats

2010-04-22T15:15:00.000+08:00

It's coming

2010-04-21T21:15:00.000+08:00

The mid-year examination. Scary period for the students. Kind of scary for me too. I really wish my students can do well!

Next week is the revision week. I'll do my best to help my students. I hope they'll do their best to help themselves too!

Another blunder

2010-04-19T13:25:00.000+08:00

I hate it when I'm so forgetful. I've reminded myself time and again, yet I still could forget about it and allow my class to be distracted by it. Sigh!

Positive

2010-04-18T00:55:00.001+08:00

Teachers have to be very positive.

That is why everyday I go to school with a happy mood, and I look forward to every lesson. When students make me mad in class, I get over it very quickly. I believe everyone has a choice to look on the bright side, stay positive, and be happy. I choose not to dwell over any unhappiness caused by students. I choose to focus on the angelic side of my students.

I've heard this so many times: If teachers' aren't positive, they'll probably go mad soon. Like, genuinely mad.

And being positive keeps me motivated. I need to be motivated in order to motivate my students, right?

I am positive. And I will stay positive!

Unblind myself

2010-04-15T22:50:00.008+08:00

A fresh bout of disappointment washed over me in class today.

And I let it pass as quickly as it came.

My expectation was too high, beyond my students' reach, hence the overwhelming disappointment. I've never felt so much like crying in school.

But I must not let this disappointment blind myself from the fact that there are students who are very keen to learn. There will always be good students, so I will never give up. Dwelling over the disappointment is not going to help in any way, so I quickly let it go.

I will strive to help my good students learn and maximize their potential, while thinking of ways to motivate the unwilling students, pushing them to learn. It's my job anyway, to help my students learn. And realize their potential. And I believe that every single one of them is capable of learning. It's just how much effort they want to put in, in the process of learning.

I've heard someone said: Everyone is lazy. The ones that don't seem lazy... they just have more motivation to push them towards success.

Second ob

2010-04-15T08:00:00.000+08:00

Freaking tired and feeling amazing, all at the same time.

"Ob" is short for observation... teachers' lingo I guess. Because we have observations so often, we use the word so often, it makes sense to give it a short form. Right?

Today's my second observation by my NIE supervisor. I'll do well!

Motivation is vital

2010-04-14T15:35:00.001+08:00

Today I've learnt that everyone needs motivation.

I have been motivating my students, fellow NIE peers, and fellow practicum teachers... It is a great feeling to motivate people, and especially when the motivated party is appreciative and thank me. It feels really good!

Today, I felt demoralized. I haven't felt like that for a very long time. I realized that I need motivation too, just like everyone else. When I've got all the negative comments coming at me instead of encouragement, my morale instantly drops.

But fret not! I shall not let this bring me down, or anything at all. I will be good, and continue to be good, if not better! Being a good teacher gives me the high and nothing's gonna bring me down.

Been busy

2010-04-13T08:40:00.000+08:00

Although there are students who are really out of hand, some are appreciative, and I really appreciate how they make my days too!

This is week 7 of practicum... and my NIE supervisor will be here to observe me later, and then on Thursday too. Wish me all the best!

Random thought: My job is to give my students realistic hopes, motivate them to work hard towards their goals, and help them achieve to fulfill their dreams.

On my desk

2010-04-09T13:10:00.001+08:00

Tell me how

2010-04-08T15:25:00.010+08:00

Tell me how to make my all students behave like angels in class?

Sometimes they do behave like angels (most of the time outside classroom) but a lot of times, they're so wild and disobedient. And they mutate very fast, screwing up my lesson plan, and the good mood I was in when I step into the class.

Truth is, even though the class has been giving me hell (to be fair, that's usually just a handful of them and not everyone), I usually start my day in a good mood, and go to class in a good mood. I look forward to teaching them everyday, imagining them as the little angels that they seldom are.

Today I started mine with a good mood too. Many of them scored well in a quiz they did yesterday, and I decided to reward the top students with little milk chocolates. But the moment I went in, the class was chaotic. I had to shout and scream, and that made me really pissed. I didn't even want to use that word in this blog, but now I can't find a better word.

The disruptive ones, they just wouldn't obey, no matter how many times I have to tell them to stay in their seats or stop talking. I shouted so much and was so pissed that bad mood engulfed me, and that spells the "I-do-not-feel-like-talking-now-mood". I kept quiet, gave them a good stare, took the class diary from the table and wrote some names and their disruptive behaviours inside. That hushed them... They can't blame me, I have given them more than enough warnings.

And then I just flashed the answer in the mathematics teacher's guidebook on the visualizer and told them to check the answers themselves, because I was still in that mood. It is just one very rare moment when I don't feel like talking or teaching at all. It didn't last for long though. Very soon I started explaining stuff that they couldn't comprehend, and all was fine again. I get over bad moods very very quickly. It just upsets me that I have to go to the extremes every time to stop them from their disruptive behaviours and make them pay attention to me. And trust me, I seldom get pissed off.

After that, I screamed at another class for a short while as they were really noisy when I stepped in. Gave them a good lashing, unleashing the last bit of "bad mood vibes" in me, and then all was good. I was having physics with them and I taught in the first half of the lesson while I allow them to do group discussion for the second half. I just walked around, tried to relax a bit, chatted with the students, and laughed with them.

After those 2 hours of lessons I was so drained of energy, I felt like my head and body were detached. I was so overwhelmed by exhaustion that I have no energy to control my body. I just collapsed into the chair at my desk, totally knocked out. I couldn't work. I couldn't even lift a finger to type on the keyboard without straining to exert the last trace of energy in me.

I rested a bit at my desk, trying to find my detached body back, and then went for lunch in the canteen with fellow practicum mates. When I was having lunch I felt the warmth bringing my energy back, but at the same time I had this clammy feeling of discomfort. I felt like I need to perspire but the sweat is all trapped under my skin. Then I felt hot and cold... now, I hope I'm not falling sick. I need to take care!

I've got students asking me "teacher why are you smiling?" many times in class, even when I'm flaring up. I just have this natural "miss-nice-girl-smiley-face" and I can't find ways to wipe it off. Please please, tell me how. I think I still need a lot of training.

Best job ever

2010-04-06T16:05:00.005+08:00

Why do I say so?

Firstly, I have the freedom to do things. No longer stifled by standard procedures or taking direct orders from pushy supervisors. I have the freedom to plan or create my own teaching methods and materials. I admit it is a lot of hard work, but I truly love this freedom to teach exactly how I want to teach.

Secondly, I feel good when my students do learn. With the freedom to try my own teaching methods, I have to judge myself by assessing how much the students can learn from my teaching methods. When my students are learning, and actually asked for more, I feel a great sense of achievement.

Thirdly, my students just told me "You rock our world!" which is really cool. In my previous jobs, we simply slogged and get paid, a lot of time without recognition. No one would show appreciation for my efforts when I've done something right. This job gives me a lot of satisfaction, something none of my previous jobs can match.

Conclusion: I love this job!

Good night

2010-04-05T23:35:00.003+08:00

And I will wake up to yet another day of spending 11 hours in school, and then another 3 to 5 hours working after school. But you know, I will survive it. In fact I'm loving it! The students aren't killing me now, the NIE assignments are. 2 of them due soon. But I know I'm tough and nothing's gonna kill me.

When the going gets tough, the tough gets going.

And the tough says it's time to end this very crap entry now and go to bed. Rest well tonight, more battles to come tomorrow... so here's good night world and sweet dreams.

Deadly combo

2010-04-03T03:50:00.000+08:00

This is the first time in the past one year that I really feel like crying.

There are 2 NIE assignments due next week, plus formal observations, which means detailed lesson planning. And there's a pile of homework waiting to be marked, plus construction of maths quiz, worksheets and stuff.

Every minute I'm telling myself I will not crumble, but I really have no freaking idea how to do my assignment as the instructions are all over the place and I'm still wondering what are the items I have to deliver. Draft, lesson plan, quiz, reflection?

NIE doesn't kill me; I love hanging out with my peers and tackling assignments together. Teaching doesn't kill me; in fact I love it so much more than any other jobs I have had. But the combination of both teaching plus submission of NIE assignments is deadly.

I can literally feel my strength sapping away from me and I'm holding onto what's left inside me dearly, the last thread of strength before insanity takes over.

Devastating

2010-03-29T13:55:00.001+08:00

I really want to teach. Give me a chance to help you excel. Give yourselves the chance to set yourselves soaring. You can do it. I have confidence in you all, so please stop sabotaging yourselves.

I really need my students to behave before I can teach and help them learn. I need to reflect. I need to learn too. There's so much to catch up for my classroom management. Sigh. I can do it!

Should I...

2010-03-27T22:50:00.005+08:00

... be aiming for distinction?

Fat hope, slim chance! There's still plenty of room for improvement, especially on my classroom management. But isn't it good to have a goal? That's what Adam Khoo told the graduating students on 10 March. If you want to be successful, set a goal and work towards it every single day. I won't expect a distinction, it's just too far-fetched. But I shall always aim high and try my best!

An irrelevant side note: Love the new Blogger template designer.

Oh no

2010-03-25T13:25:00.000+08:00

I'm feeling very very down now due to my own carelessness. I promise myself and everyone else that it will never ever happen again!

Internet woes

2010-03-25T07:50:00.008+08:00

Nowadays being a teacher is just so not easy, compared to our teachers in the earlier days. All they need to do is stand and deliver, teach the syllabus and make sure we give the desired results. We were disciplined and my teachers hardly need to manage us. And there were no internet problems...

Just now during the morning assembly, the school was informed about some cases of students abusing one another via Facebook. Oh my, that's new to me. I was inspired and I want to be a teacher, thinking that I just need to do what my teachers did for me. Now I didn't know what I've gotten myself into.

Anyway yes, teachers nowadays just have so much more to handle. Students are no longer appreciative of their teachers' effort to plan activities, to teach and to help them excel. Some are purposely rebellious, and then there are the internet woes and many other new-found problems that come along with the progressive technology.

Plus the irregular meals (lunch at 9am and dinner at 7pm, I wonder how I did it as I couldn't live without eating in every 2 to 3 waking hours in the past) and always forgetting to go to the toilet too... Oh, my sore throat! Yes, sore throat. I should learn not to strain my vocal too much.

With all that said, I'm still surviving. Looking on the positive side: I still love what I'm doing. So, still great. Yay! Let's just hope this fire in me can last for the longest time.

Just another Wednesday

2010-03-24T16:50:00.000+08:00

Wednesdays are busy days! It's the one day of the week that I'm packed on my timetable. And I thought today will be bad. But well, it turns out better than I thought! Nothing terrific, but I feel awesome.

Took video of myself teaching in a class, and doing some video editing now in the small but well equipped room of our Infocomm Club.

Everyday battles

2010-03-22T20:00:00.000+08:00

Going to every class like going to fight a battle... and if anything is taught at all, the battle is won. Trust me, I didn't win all the time. I'm sure some of you teachers have same sentiments too.

So fast!

2010-03-20T15:45:00.003+08:00

The one week break is over in a day... more lesson plans to rush now!

Good and bad

2010-03-10T10:40:00.001+08:00

Yesterday's physics lesson for formal observation was good. The maths lesson before that was not that good. I wasn't able to help the students comprehend how to solve algebraic equations involving brackets. In the end my CT stepped forward to help. She is really good at it and I must learn from her, and always remember to relate to the students' prior knowledge when I teach!

I'm having a sore throat now after the 2 consecutive hours of raising my voice yesterday. No good, must learn to take care of my vocal! It's one of a teacher's most important assets, besides the knowledge, etc. On top of that I'm having this horribly painful ulcer under my tongue and nursing a nasty headache now. Bad, real bad.

Luckily today I'm facilitating the life-long learning seminars for the graduating students, so my voice could be saved from what could have been 3 hours of further deterioration on a usual Wednesday. Good for me.

I haven't been bringing momo junior and study panda to school, so I haven't posted photos of momo junior and study panda for a long while. Miss them?

Looking forward

2010-03-07T17:10:00.000+08:00

I felt so tired everyday rushing the lesson plans and stuff, but it's weekend and I'm actually looking forward to the new week.

I used to whine at work, and that's all I do if there are things to whine about. Whine, whine, whine. Work, work, work. Whine, whine, whine. Trapped in a vicious cycle.

Now I will whine and then I will say, "I need to learn, I need to improve, I will strive and do better the next time!"

Great improvement on my part. I guess teaching is really for me.

Not a good day

2010-03-04T13:30:00.004+08:00

I have to come and blog. Feeling deflated now after 2 consecutive hours of boredom for the students. At least I think so... although I know it is more likely due to the afternoon heat that the students are lethargic and falling asleep in class. I feel really disappointed with myself that I couldn't get them engaged as much as I wanted to. I was so enthusiastic about the lessons in the morning, I even invited my maths CT to grade one of them as my formal observation. But now I just feel so disappointed. Sigh.

I must strive to do better! But I don't know what I can do to help the sleepy students stay awake and alert in class. This is one issue that I must really ask for advice and learn to handle. The horrible afternoon heat is just so unavoidable here.

Exhausted

2010-03-03T23:15:00.001+08:00

1 week = 9 lesson plans + 9 reflections

And that's on top of the slides I'm creating and worksheets I'm designing and homework etc I'm marking.

Still trying to adapt to the new workload... still struggling, and I guess for the time being I won't be updating much.

First lesson ever

2010-03-01T13:15:00.003+08:00

Today I embarked on teaching a class by myself, under the observation of my maths CT. I'm just so glad that I only have one class on Monday! It was just over, from 12pm to 1pm, and I can't wait to come write down my reflection in my blog here.

I was very nervous and I did not manage the time very well, and the task of going through the homework from the previous session was incomplete. I did not give any pause time for the class to response (or there was no response because everyone's too bored?), and I was too engrossed with trying to manage the class and cover the homework questions at the same time, that I did not remind myself to use my “natural voice”, which results in my vocal suffering now.

Despite straining my voice, I did not manage to do a good job in classroom management. Half the time I had my back facing them, writing the solutions on the whiteboard. My CT ended up walking around the classroom as I tried to go through the test paper questions and homework questions with the class of 40 students. Tomorrow I will probably be teaching a new topic, and I'm both nervous and looking forward to it. I hope that I won't be so nervous tomorrow, that I won't make any blunder and all will go well.

And I really hope that I can manage the class better with each classroom experience gained. Wish me all the best!

Ending my first week

2010-02-26T17:30:00.002+08:00

Doing my lesson plan in school now while waiting for my husband to fetch me. I went home on my own for the past 4 days but it was raining just now, so I called my husband.

Met my maths CT to discuss my first lesson plan, for the lesson that I will be conducting on the coming Monday. She is very nice and generous to share her classroom management experiences with me. During her observation of my lessons, she expects to see that I am able to manage the class during my lesson. She also told me that the school will let the beginning teachers take over the most difficult classes when they join the school, so I should use this practicum as an opportunity to develop my personal teaching and classroom management style, and prepare myself for real teaching after graduating from NIE.

Going out with my NIE kakis later for dinner. I really miss all of them, and the time spent rushing assignments with them in the library, and am looking forward to catching up with them later. Wish everyone a very good weekend.

Second day of practicum

2010-02-23T17:45:00.000+08:00

I'm back again. Today during the morning assembly, the VP introduced the 6 of us as trainee teachers attached to the school, in front of the entire school cohort, and introduced us individually so now everyone knows our names and our teaching subjects.

Was roped into my CT's team to prepare for the Elementz Science Project Competition. Both CTs have been really good so far, sharing a lot of things with me and being very sweet and nice. And I'm enjoying it.

First day of practicum

2010-02-22T16:45:00.002+08:00

I shall keep this entry short and very positive.

Today's a good day. There were 6 of us student teachers attached to the school, and we have to report to school at 7am today. We were given a goodie bag that contains marker pens, OHT pens, a duster, a thermometer, staffroom seating plans, map of each level of the school buildings, school magazine and file, toilet pass, staff list, etc when we reached. We went through a briefing at the library, and were issued a notebook each with wireless internet access in school. My CTs are great and they already shared a lot with me in the first day of practicum. I had tauhu goreng for lunch in the canteen, and left around 4pm.

The end.

Backdated updates

2010-02-20T22:50:00.006+08:00

I've been taking photos of momo junior but I never had the time to edit and upload them. Finally... since it's a free weekend for me... here are some photos to share, taken in the past few weeks.

Having Social Context group discussion in the mini amphitheatre at the student hub in NIE.

On my file with JW's darlings that are hanging on her bag.

Went for the sharing session in LT1, where experiences of using ICT for teaching and learning were shared.

And JC and I both "won" ourselves a free thumbdrive each at the sharing session in LT1!

Using Lego figurines for the board game we designed for our Social Context activity and filming them too.

And finally we interviewed two coursemates for our Social Context activity, and used the Lego figurines as the "interviewer" and the "interviewees" in the video clip!

I will definitely miss those fun days in NIE! No doubt they were filled with hectic schedules and brain-wrecking assignments, none of us was ever alone as we struggle and conquer each assignment together. The days would not be complete without fellow student teachers... my lovely peers who have been through thick and thin together. Wish everyone of us will have a fulfilling and enjoyable practicum.

Last day

2010-02-19T16:55:00.001+08:00

Today's the last day in NIE before practicum starts next Monday.

When we're in NIE, everyone's complaining about the canteen food... but now we are all starting to miss the days when we sit in the canteen togethering, chatting over meals or mere cups of coffee. Now that we are all posted to different schools, we really hope that we can catch up often.

It was a hectic short week, rushing through the maths test construction assignment and maths microteaching reflections after 2 days of lunar new year holidays. Now that the assignments are over, I'm actually starting to miss them, just like I'm missing my dear coursemates in NIE. This will be one assigment-free weekend, before practicum starts. And no one knows what to expect for the coming weekends... so let's just wait and see. I'll be back.

Volume of a cylinder

2010-02-12T20:25:00.000+08:00

Got this off the internet... I'm sorry I can't remember the source.

Practicum posting

2010-02-11T09:50:00.002+08:00

For most of us, our practicum posting will be our final posting, and since weeks ago, rumours such as "Our posting will be out by this week!" spread like wild fire among the PGDE cohort in NIE. After waiting anxiously for weeks, our practicum postings were finally released last Friday afternoon at around 1:30pm.

Why do I remember the time so clearly? Well, we were in the canteen having our lunch when the posting was made available online, and there was a big commotion as everyone logged online with their NIE laptops, or dash to those who are with their laptops to check for their school posting results.

At the same time, QQ, JC and JL were in a class that's commencing at 1:30pm, so I messaged them that the posting results are online already, and the entire canteen had gone mad.

Both SE1 (teaching biology and chemistry) and myself requested to have our practicum in our ESE school, and EP has also sent in our appeals, but we were both not posted back to our ESE school due to more urgent staffing needs in other schools. Well, both of us understand that the science department in our ESE school is already overwhelmed with great science teachers, and thus we are much more needed in other schools that need science (and maths) teachers.

I've sent emails to EP, EVP, CT1 and CT2 to inform them that I won't be back for my practicum and to thank them for everything during my ESE in the school. Currently I'm actually looking forward to practicum as I have found out that a couple of the teachers in my practicum school are my coursemates in university. However I'm also feeling nervous and kind of jittery about meeting my new CTs and teaching in class... for real. I guess it's because I don't know what to expect. I wonder how the students will be like... Well, it will all be revealed soon. And for now... back to my lecture in physics lab.

Physics test construction

2010-02-04T10:35:00.004+08:00

It's due today. Like, finally. Many peers suffered from lack of sleep from this assignment, and me too! Some were even down with flu and are on MC for these 2 days. I've been staying up late for the past 3 days, getting headaches and dizzy spells. But it's done and over, so yay! Tonight it's another mad rush for the essay due tomorrow.

Yesterday JW told me that she felt like I'm the type of friendly teacher that she'll want to talk to outside class when I was doing my microteaching last week. Sounds nice.

I've photos of momo junior but I've no time to edit and upload them. Will share them soon! Now back to my physics lab session in NIE...

Youtube links on dyslexia

2010-01-31T21:00:00.021+08:00

Researching for my Ed Psych II group presentation and posting here just to share~
The Power Of Dyslexia about Famous Dyslexics
Dyslexia, so what is it all about
Dyslexia - the Signs to Look For
Dyslexia- The Struggle Through School

Must watch!
Dyslexia An Unwrapped Gift (part 1 of 2)
Dyslexia An Unwrapped Gift (part 2 of 2)

Drinking problem

2010-01-29T19:35:00.000+08:00

Inclusive environment

2010-01-28T10:45:00.002+08:00

This is what we've been learning in our Ed Psych II module... as the society progresses, there is more emphasize on creating an inclusive environment to embrace the diversity among students. Diversity includes the abilities of the students, as well as their disabilities and special needs. Creating an inclusive environment is one of the most challenging tasks for teachers and I hope I can cope well when it's my turn to teach after NIE.

Here is a video to share, first shared by our Ed Psych II tutor in class yesterday.

Random rant: QQ just found a white hair on me!

Micro-teaching today

2010-01-27T16:20:00.000+08:00

Submitted my reconstruction essay for Ed Psych II early in the morning and then did my micro-teaching for mathematics. Lots of comments and constructive feedback from the tutor. I'm just glad it's over... one less assignment to tackle!

Writing the TLLM essay now, due this Friday.
Or rather, trying to start writing.

TLLM = Teach Less Learn More
Progress of essay = 0%

Assignments

2010-01-19T09:35:00.000+08:00

They are piling up again. Fast and furious... this is quite a fierce and short semester. And soon we will know our practicum posting.

Later on the same day

2010-01-13T20:55:00.002+08:00

Cuzz came and we had tea break together in the late afternoon.

Happy 2010

2010-01-13T14:50:00.003+08:00

Hello everyone. Yes, this is my first post of 2010. Like, finally!

The festive season of 2009 came and went in a flash. I was kept busy with activities and renovation and stuff, so I didn't even remember to update my blog at all.

I wasn't satisfied with my own results but my friends were pacifying me, telling me that it doesn't matter and I actually did well. But I expected more for the amount of effort put in. Still, overall it's not that bad I guess.

Started my first day on campus this Monday. Today's the third day so far... and yes, so far so good (beside that I took cab to campus everyday so far). Plus the vegetarian food in NIE canteen is still yummy and edible, thank goodness.

Do you miss momo junior?

First week of December

2009-12-06T19:10:00.011+08:00

Holidays start now!

Last Wednesday's KTV session was just another one of our happening sessions.

Monday: Stayed at home with husband, watched TV and basically just bummed around.

Tuesday: Met my GESL buddies RN, KN, SA and CL for a great KTV session, that evolved into a lot more than just a KTV session! Three words - tonnes of fun!

Wednesday: Met the ESE babes PB1 and TA1 for another KTV session. Told them about how 'high' the KTV session was on the previous day, and we attempted to get even 'higher'. 3 of us were even dancing in the room. It was over the top!

Thursday: JC, JR, JK and JL (maybe I should just call them the 4J's next time. Haha!) came to my place for a mahjong session. However, I'm seriously not that into mahjong, so my husband ended up playing for me.

Friday: Husband's colleagues came to play mahjong... oh no, it's mahjong again. And I'm really getting sick of it by now.

Saturday: Back at my parents' place to hang out with my folks, plus my baby bro and his babe, who's also a teacher. And she shared lots of staffroom gossips with me!

Sunday: My dear girlfriend's housewarming session. It's always great to catch up with my good old girl pals. One of them is also a teacher so naturally, more staffroom stories to share. Went shopping with my teaching girlfriend afterward. And then back at home to blog... now.

It's a great week so far! And I'm looking forward to my trip to Malaysia next week with my GESL buddies!!

Oh dear, my "teaching and learning blog" has once again become my personal "fun and indulgence blog"... Hope it won't be overtaken. I still want this to remain as my blog on my teaching and learning journey!

What a relief

2009-11-28T10:35:00.001+08:00

Holiday season is a happy season! Now it's finally time to indulge after all the hard work!!

Holidays

2009-11-26T10:50:00.004+08:00

My happy season is here~ It's the holiday season! But I'll surely miss my peers who've been battling along by my side in campus for almost 12 hours a day in the past couple of months.

Yesterday after our last lesson in campus, we went out for steamboat buffet lunch, karaoke and then dinner in town. Had a blast of fun with my peers yesterday! Will be having GESL debrief this evening at 5:30pm, and that may be the last time we meet in campus for this year.

Holidays will be all the way until school reopens in the second week of January 2010. Nevertheless, we still have project discussions and other academic work that have to be done by 2010. My mathematics micro-teaching will be in the third academic week in 2010! So I better start preparing soon.

Final micro-teaching

2009-11-19T19:55:00.001+08:00

I had my final physics micro-teaching today!

This little "motor monkey" was a fellow coursemate's prop to illustrate motor effect~

We all dressed up for the occasion~ And I wore my new heels!

Group Endeavours in Service Learning

2009-11-16T20:20:00.000+08:00

Yes, that's GESL. And my group decided to teach basic everyday English to foreign workers, the same people who are building our integrated resorts.

Guess what? Our GESL's covered by the media! We are on Today paper and Channel News Asia website!!

We put in a lot of work and effort for this project and finally the effort has paid off. Like most of my peers said... why are we working so hard for GESL? Most of them just get it over and done with. But we had to spent lots of time to work collaboratively on lesson planning, worksheet designing, fund raising (money to print worksheets) and many many other stuff. And while some groups had a one-day activity, ours is spread across 3 weeks, with 2 sessions per week.

I'm sure at the beginning of the project, a lot of us may have doubts about it, a lot of us may not feel comfortable about it, and there must be a handful that thought: "Why must we do so much work for this? Can't we do something simple, get it over and done with?" But now, the whole project team rejoices as we celebrate our success and the recognition from everyone. We've done a very good job and I'm proud to be part of the team!!!

Have you failed?

2009-11-16T19:25:00.001+08:00

I'd be bluffing if I told you I've never failed. Haha~

This morning some of my peers conducted their micro-teaching, but they were all very nervous and didn't perform as well as all of us expected. I guess when you know it's your final chance and you are graded, you get too anxious. I tend to do that too. I thought I did pretty well for my GESL! Yet I did badly for my maths expository teaching and physics trial micro-teaching... By the way, GESL sessions are over and I shall write more in my next entry!

This Thursday it's my turn for the physics final micro-teaching! I hope I can do better this time round.

Today we attended a little presentation by 3 experienced physics teachers who were in NIE to share with us and it's really enlightening.

Tomorrow is free day and I can finally meet dear Cuzz for a relaxing day out! Yay!!

Physics final assignment

2009-11-13T14:25:00.000+08:00

I'm trying very hard to write my essay (Physics assignment) now but the rainy weather is getting to me. So lethargic!

1 essay, 3 points, 5 pages, and 60% of assessment. Come on, I know I can do it!

Early in the morning

2009-11-11T11:35:00.001+08:00

NIE at 8am today~

A little note from our Ed Psych II class at 8:30am today... 3 types of thinking: cynical, critical, creative. Ditch the cynical thinking and amplify the critical and creative thinking!

With the lockers

2009-11-10T14:55:00.000+08:00

Yes, momo junior is back!! Took this photo this morning while waiting for JC and JL to come so we could all collect our stuff...

We are all too tired to lug the heavy stuff everyday and since we stay in campus until so late almost every night, the only thing we do when we get home is rest/sleep... so we ended up dropping all our stuff at JL's locker everyday, and collecting them every morning in campus.

In the library

2009-11-09T12:30:00.000+08:00

Our trial physics micro-teaching is over! I didn't do well this time... I will definitely strive to do better next time!

Some random pictures

2009-11-08T11:45:00.001+08:00

NIE at night.

More random pictures.

I haven't been taking photos of momo junior and study panda lately... Do you miss them?

Possessed

2009-11-07T21:40:00.000+08:00

Life revolves around Physics and Mathematics.

Nowadays when I go shopping, I'm only interested in Physics and Mathematics textbooks, workbooks, practical books, assessment books, reference books... This is madness.

Came back from lunch with JC, JK, ZZ after SMMT, and slept the afternoon away. SMMT totally sapped me of my energy, and I don't think I did well but I'm not going to dwell over it now. It's time to revitalize... need energy now for my Physics micro-teaching preparation!

My Physics micro-teaching is on the coming Monday. And then a reflection due on Tuesday. There is just no end to this so I better brace myself.

Final dash for SMMT

2009-11-06T22:40:00.000+08:00

JC, JL and I stayed in NTU library until close to 10pm. Before that, ZZ, JK and JR were with us too at NIE library... we shifted over to NTU library at dinner time as NIE library closes earlier at 8pm.

Just got back and had a quick shower... time for a bit of final dash, before I catch a good sleep and hopefully wake up with a clear mind (not cleared of the precious formulas of course!) for the paper tomorrow morning!!

Tomorrow is SMMT

2009-11-06T07:00:00.001+08:00

This is the mugging week for SMMT. I really love to come and blog but studying for SMMT is so much more important! JC, JL, JR and I stay in the NIE library to do our SMMT book (more on mathematics conceptual knowledge) and TYS everyday of the week.

I'm in campus by 8:30am everyday and leave only after dark. Tuesday was a free day as it was the e-learning week for Physics, but I went to study in the library too. Cuzz came to accompany me on Tuesday~ So sweet of her! She came at lunchtime, and later we had a good dinner together.

I haven't been so hardworking for the longest time, and indeed I need a lot of time to catch up on my O-levels Elementary Maths and Additional Maths content! After I'm home I'll try to read or do some more TYS questions until over midnight, but last night I finally couldn't take it anymore and slept at 11pm.

Actually my mugging days were longer in my undergrad years... when we stayed in hostels, so my friends and I could mug all the way from 9am in the morning until lights out at 3am daily at Canteen B of NTU. Don't we all miss those days?

Yesterday I was in campus from 8am to 9pm... will it be even longer today? I need to remember all the formulas today as the formulas sheet will not be provided. Gosh, so many trigonometry rules and identities to remember!

Maths lesson plan

2009-10-26T14:55:00.006+08:00

Was doing my Maths lesson planning assignment until almost 3am, and then today still adding stuff and touching up before printing in the library and now I've finally submitted my lesson plan and worksheets! Yay!!

It was a mad rush and even now there are still many people rushing their lesson plans (which is due at 4pm today) here in the library! After submitting my lesson plan, I did a simple worksheet for my GESL lessons as the logistic team is rushing to print them.

Now there's still the Ed Psych individual essay due on this Friday, and then there's the Physics lesson plan due next Friday and then SMMT on next Saturday, followed by Physics microteaching and GESL lessons in the week after. At this rate I'm so gonna fail my SMMT, and I don't want to!! Some NIE peers have actually given up on the SMMT next week, hoping to revise only in December and pass on the second attempt next year. For me, I really hope to get it over and done with in one single attempt. SMMT seems to be so dreadful! And to think we are Mathematics teachers-to-be! Gosh, I better be spending all my waking hours on my Additional Mathematics TYS... if not I'm so dead.

Did data logging this morning in Physics lab where we played with the motion sensor~

Our last Ed Psych lesson

2009-10-22T11:00:00.008+08:00

Of course that's for Ed Psych I only... there's still Ed Psych II to come, and it's up next starting next Wednesday.

By the way I was early yesterday because I cabbed to campus. Not good on my pockets but I really need to save on the time.

Some of the group presentations were hilarious and we had fun in our last Ed Psych I lesson... however we were also trying to spare a bit of our concentration on our Maths notes as there was the Maths test in the afternoon. And finally it's over! Wasn't entirely good but I won't dwell over it as there's more to come~

Coming up next: Maths lesson plan, Ed Psych individual essay assignment, (the dreaded) SMMT and Physics lesson plan plus microteaching too!

And oops, I'm updating this blog entry in lab... yes it's my Physics lesson, NOW.

Long weekend

2009-10-19T10:25:00.010+08:00

Another bazaar in NIE... QQ and I went on retail therapy and this was just one of the things I bought among others~ (there's also a vest, plus a pretty bracelet and a pair of bling bling earrings... gosh I'm blogging about shopping again)

I conducted a brief activity during my Ed Psych group presentation (with JC, JK and ZZ), in which I invited 2 guy coursemates to participate. And here's one of the two outcomes... and totally unexpected!

The scenario was about Sanrio Puroland, and so I guess he was trying to draw a Hello Kitty? One guy coursemate wrote the comment when this "outcome" was being passed around class.

We couldn't finish copying all the words and diagrams we see, so in the end I started taking pictures during the Physics class on Thursday morning, for my own reference...

We had GESL meeting later on Thursday and I spent the free time doing some last minute consolidation of our lesson ideas. The meeting from 5:30pm to 7:30pm was for us to present our group's status and lesson ideas to our group's staff facilitator. She bought some really yummy chocolates for us and told us it's her birthday, so we sang birthday song for her once at the beginning of our meeting and once again at the end.

Comm Skills oral presentation was over on Friday. My coursemate helped me took a video of my own presentation with my camera and I took several shots in class too. After everyone has presented, another coursemate suggested taking a group photo of the entire class. And we did, twice, using my camera with its timer mode, on top of the OHP.

Met up with TA1 and PB2 on Saturday for a good lunch together, and then went to TA1's place to mug until 9pm.

Today's holiday and I'm so glad for this long weekend. Tomorrow's my ICT presentation and we are presenting using blog... which is my forte so I tried my best to do a good job with our group blog. Then Wednesday's my Maths PCK Test 2.

Probability, statistics, cumulative curves, boxplots, sets, higher algebra, factor theorem, remainder theorem, trigonometry, pythagoras theorem, binomial theorem, calculus, differentiation, integration, vectors, matrices, inverse matrices, solving simultaneous equations with matrices... my brain is fried again!

Tired and still kicking

2009-10-13T06:55:00.008+08:00

It's the period of rushing assignments.

And while I used to think why my mum and my husband have sinus, now it's getting to me. When the doctor says I'm having slight sinus last year, I was relunctant to accept the fact, but now there's nothing I can do about it getting relatively full-blown. All I wish is... to be able to breathe easily like before. I guess that may be the reason why I'm having my frequent minor headaches these days... not enough oxygen to my head? My brain is so fried now, I can imagine my brain's like a little piece of cauliflower tempura.

I can't believe I'm still blogging and surfing Facebook everyday (just 10 to 15 minute, I spent so so so much more time online when I was an undergrad in NTU and even when I was working) and I must check my email ever so often, but I have no time to trim my eyebrows or my nails. My fingernails are so long that they dig into the flesh of my right palm when I write and that seriously hurts, leaving deep red marks in my palm. But oh well, I only carry the bulky NIE-loaned notebook to campus everyday, not tweezers or nail clippers.

I was in campus (NIE, then NTU because the canteen and library at NTU close much later) from 8am to 9pm yesterday... how's that for a record? I know it'll get longer. I was quite amazed when the bus stop was still so crowded at 9pm. I have expected that taking 179 would be a breeze, but no. It was so crowded I had difficulty squeezing onto the bus!! I guess maybe I shall try 10pm... I hope most of the fellow muggers would have left by then.

Leaving for campus soon. I hope the heavy rain goes away... it's such a chore to walk in the rain to and around campus!

My head hurts

2009-10-12T17:15:00.001+08:00

But I have no time to dwell over it. I still owe my group mates lots of stuff. Now, even photo-taking and simple blogging has become a luxury.

Need for sleep

2009-10-11T02:05:00.002+08:00

2:05am and finally done with being reflective reflective reflective reflective reflective reflective reflective reflective reflective...

Yesterday was Friday

2009-10-10T12:10:00.011+08:00

At yesterday's Comm Skills lesson in the morning.

Then while waiting to carpool with dear TA1 after my Maths tutorial...

Sometimes I wish Cafe Hotshot have some sort of discount card for people who eat or drink there everyday. Or almost.

NTU at night

2009-10-08T23:45:00.002+08:00

Crossing the bridge from NIE to take 179 after GESL sub-group meeting, while lugging my bulky HP notebook and heavy paperback notebooks and notes and textbooks and stuff... and that didn't deter me from stopping on the bridge to take this shot of NTU at night.

There were people still mugging inside the library. I wonder why NIE library closes so early... I wish it closes later sometimes.

Notebooks for sale

2009-10-08T13:20:00.000+08:00

We are selling these notebooks at $6 each for fund raising.

And I'm so gonna stay in campus until late late late again today.

Knowledge retention

2009-10-08T08:25:00.002+08:00

Was reading my Ed Psych textbook till 1:30am last night and then woke up at 6:30am this morning to do more research for my Ed Psych PBL group e-portfolio presentation which will be happening next Wednesday.

Knowledge retention knowledge retention knowledge retention knowledge retention knowledge retention knowledge retention knowledge retention... Yes I've been reading up on knowledge retention for secondary school students yet I'm not really retaining much knowledge myself. Ugh~!!!

Blueberry muffin

2009-10-07T18:45:00.002+08:00

I think I've hit the most number of posts in a day.

I really ought to be doing my assignments... but instead, I'm blogging and eating. Yes, JC and I are at Cafe Hotshot again. Now back to my reflection~

Free coffee

2009-10-07T13:30:00.001+08:00

It was 10:30am after Ed Psych and so JC, JK, ZZ and I headed to McDonald's at NTU as they're giving away free fresh brewed coffee for every breakfast purchased.

Tea cum dinner after Maths lecture

2009-10-07T13:20:00.013+08:00

My dear cousin (let's call her Cuzz from now onwards) - who's also a teacher teaching Physics and Maths in a secondary school - came to NIE to look for me yesterday, and we headed over to NTU together for the tea time buffet at Sakae Sushi.

We had a great time at the buffet with the great variety of food (raw and cooked, steamed and fried, cold and hot, savoury and sweet), and ate nonstop from 3:30pm to 6pm.

After the satisfying "dinner" (it was last meal of the day for both of us), we went to Jurong Point for a brief shopping spree. I wanted to get a Physics textbook, but in the end Cuzz bought a pretty belt while I bought a dress, and the lemon honey drink in the picture, to soothe my sore throat. Yeah, that's it.

And I was supposed to be doing my Physics reflection!! So now, I'm trying to catch up with the assignments (Physics reflection, Ed Psych PBL portfolio, etc which are due next week) and guess I'm going to stay in the library (where I am now) until 8pm again.

I thought this blog is 100% dedicated to my learning and teaching journey but oh well... I ended up blogging about simple ~~brainless~~ stuff like shopping and food as well. *rolls eyes* That's just so me... but hey, the food was good alright! I'm still drooling as I browse through the pictures~ I know I'll definitely be back for more Sakae buffets!

Lunch before Maths lecture

2009-10-07T13:15:00.004+08:00

Yesterday's lunch was at Executive Cafe at NTU with QQ and ZZ during our 1-hour break between Physics lab and Maths lecture.

That's momo junior with my peanut porridge (lower right hand picture) and she's joining in the fun with ZZ's steamed buns in the bamboo steamer (big picture).

Luxury is to blog

2009-10-05T18:30:00.009+08:00

No, momo junior is not being electrocuted! That's just her watching what QQ and I did in Physics lab today - playing with 2-way switches during our deductive inquiry activity.

Everyone's getting really tensed and stressed up here. And I'm still blogging away... because I really love writing in my blog as it is the little thing I do each day that isn't stressful. All it takes is just a couple of minutes to edit the photos, and a couple more to upload them and type a few lines here. I hope I won't be so busy one day that I can't even afford the 5 minutes of luxury.

And yes, I'm still in library right now with JC sitting across the same table. We've planned to stay here until 8pm when the library closes. I was having dicussion on the Maths ICT assignment here with HN after lunch. Met QQ at 8:30am this morning to discuss Physics CA2 over breakfast, before our Physics lesson at 9:30am. Hopefully we can get it over and done with as soon as possible.

Throat infection

2009-10-04T19:40:00.002+08:00

Woke up with my painful throat so constricted and blocked with thick thick phlegm that I almost couldn't breathe. Husband brought me to the clinic and I was prescribed a week's dosage of antibiotics for the throat infection.

I was already unwell yesterday so I napped in the afternoon, and then there was some family gathering to attend in the evening till late. Did my Ed Psych e-learning discussions and quizzes today. Not a very productive weekend. I wish I've done much more!

Mock bribery again

2009-10-03T15:45:00.002+08:00

A coursemate from another microteaching group gave us these chocolates at the end of the maths tutorial yesterday as belated children's day presents.

And I was teasing both of them - the mooncake guy and the chocolate guy - and telling them that if I can't fit into my pants, it's all their fault! Heehee~

Mock bribery

2009-10-02T15:05:00.001+08:00

My coursemates are conducting their microteaching in maths tutorial right now. Minutes ago, a coursemate who's going to do his microteaching later is giving out mooncakes to the tutor and all of us... and so I kept teasing him, telling him that it's blatant bribery!

Dear momo junior's so excited about having mooncakes in class.

Cute stuff in campus

2009-10-02T08:35:00.000+08:00

Waiting for my Comm Skills lesson to start now. At the meanwhile, let me update on yesterday...

QQ has some really cute stuff!

Was hanging out at Cafe Hotshot again with QQ and JC~ QQ and I were working on our Physics continual assessment which we are required to work in pairs.

We did our discussion till late evening and had a short break before we headed out to our GESL group meetings respectively.

We will be selling some cute notebooks to raise funds~

Happy Children's Day

2009-10-01T11:05:00.005+08:00

Guess what, I'm in Physics lab now while writing this. Yea~ I seriously ought to be paying attention instead of blogging away... but well, just a short one... just wanna wish everyone a Happy Children's Day!

Not a very good day for me though as I slept really late last night, I woke up with an irritating sore throat, and I'll be having a long long day in campus. Nevertheless, hope everyone has a good day!

Side-note 1: Met TA1 for lunch and chill out yesterday after lessons. She's getting stressed, just like most of my coursemates. I wish there's something I can do to motivate everyone.

Side-note 2: Dear P of my ESE school has sent in my request to MOE! Now all I can do is wait and see if I'll get posted there for my practicum next year~