my unofficial last day in school!

today's teachers' day celebration! went back to tidy some loose ends and to celebrate with my students! was super touched to receive so many gifts from them.. was kinda niaoed by some perm teachers but i dun care! i manage to build a rapport with them and kindled their interest in science! tt's my aim.. am realli realli sae to leave them and when i read the cards they wrote.. nearly teared! oh god, why must parting always be this sad.. this shall be a super wonderful moment etched forever in my memory.. it's the first time i reali feel attached to my work and environment and i cant bear to leave! teaching has set a totally different and great impression on me.. it's realli fulfilling, not onli on teachers' day! i love my students! i love rv!

presents from my darlings!

my 1J! one in yellow's my "daughter"

with 1D! fave student is on my left!

with 2k!

with 2I

fun pic of my darlings!

my fave student!

and a sweet present from her!

wanna end off with sth from my student.. was realli sweet =) "you're no longer my teacher!!!! =PPPPP u're my friend now. HOHOS. bt 还是比较习惯叫你 mr tan. xD "

teaching's not about seeing results, it's the satisfaction you get when you make a difference in their life. they have made a difference in mine, a big one.

my official last day as a teacher!

hmm.. today marks my official last day as a teacher! ha official coz it's the last day i will be paid my moe as a teacher! didnt have the chance to see all my classes today! wad a waste!

day started off with 2k! lesson time was shortened by 15 mins coz of some briefing! of all days, choose briefing on my last day! went through the same ceremony with them.. giving them test papers and taking lollipop and choc at the same time. as i was in a rush to go thru the test paper, didnt have time to talk to them! wanted to motivate them to work towards EOY one.. but oh well shall leave tt to the form teacher. before i left, they gave me a very loud "thank you mr tan" and was very touched =)

then rushed off to 1D to administer test! was pretty bored but looking at my students, i realised that they were all rather cute! after test, bought pencil, lead and eraser for this boy in the class. realised that he always ask me to help borrow pencil during test.. dunno if he's lazy or forgetful.. but oh well.. give him as children day present ba! talked to some of my students in the class and i unwillingly gave them my msn! boohoo!

had a long break but i was kinda busy.. but forget wad i was doing le.. then for the last lesson of the day, 1J =) it's a test again! pretty much nothing.. boring ba.. administer test is so boring! somehow i managed to find some of my 2i students to pep talk to! hehe =) and that marks the end of all my lessons!

gave make up test for 2 of my students after sch.. and was surprised when 3 gals frm my other classes came to find me! =) to give me present =) was super sweet of them la.. *touched once more* and i really felt the unwillingness to leave when a student saes she she bu de wo zou =) urgh.. teaching's fun yeah? i am attached to all my students alr lah!

hmmm.. tml will be my last unofficial day in sch! am gonna enjoy the performance! i will miss my students! boohoo!

i am gonna miss my students.. and RV! definitely!

Boohoo! I am going to miss my students and RV when i am done with teaching at the end of this week! it's so sad to leave them lah! as a mark of my farewell to them, decided to give them lollipop and chocolate! and i invested half of my day's pay into them!

But the first lesson didnt started out as planned. As much as i didnt want to, had to raise my voice to lecture at them! it's my last lesson with them and i had to scold them! urgh! that nearly ruined my day lah.. they sorta knew they were wrong and behaved themselves la.. so decided to give them the goodies and i got a cheer! =) tt's darn pai sei lah coz the teacher next door even walked over =)

Then went to my darling 1J =) plan was simple, go through assignment, give out goodies then go! my students are super cute! some of them took out their phones to take photo and video of my lesson =P was super embarassing but u can see their interest in the class lah =) ended up their them my life story (but i dont seem to live that long yet) and alot alot of stuffs. ha i got hugged by a boy! dubbed him the "我不是不听话" boy coz he's super naughty and adhd! but oh well the gals in the class were sweet too; they wrote alot of teacher's day dedication to me =)

then went to my 2i =) brightest of my classes and i thot they were the most bochup. was going to go thru test with them and the goodies served its purpose =) while they were collecting their paper from me, asked them to take a lollipop and choc too=P felt it was a decent way to motivate them n not to let them lose hope =) and was very proud of a gal in my class; she topped the chem test across the level! muahhaha student from relief teacher's class! okie okie not being ego, but just made me super happy thouhg i think it's may be the tuition teacher's effort that paid off =) was surprised that they gave me a card when i was about to leave =) and i decided not to give the goodies to my 2k first=) shall distribute them when i give out the test papers =) darn, i love my students!

am gonna miss my students when my term ends. all good things must come to an end! 3 more days to go!

on teaching

today, told my students that i will be leaving end of this week and one of my students cried. totally didnt expect that to happen. and after reading one of their blogs, felt really bad to leave. i can feel their agony; about changing teachers every now and then. sch shldnt hire teacher who cant commit themselves for long, 1 yr at the very least. then there wouldn't be the problem of hiring ad hoc relief teachers. I am totally fine with the idea of having relief teacher standing in whne teachers are on course, but not having relief teacher for the class for the whole term. it aint healthy! there will not be someone to monitor their progress and the students need time getting adjusted to new teaching method. it's bad for their development.

this brings me to my next point. what's the point of having modular system for science at the early stage of sec 1? admittedly, it gives the added advantage of being focused on a specific area each module and having the more "knowledgeable" teacher to teach. however, having different teacher for each term doesnt aid in the development of the students. we arent just focused on imparting and teaching students new things. if that's the case, you must as well ask them to read off from their textbook. we are there to aid in their development, as a student and a person. in my opinion, there isnt a need for modular system as early as sec 1. it's good to split up the whole year into different areas of science, but the imparting of knowledge can still be carried out by the same teacher. even if the teacher is not specialised in that area, i am sure it aint too tough for them to teach. they just have to read up before hand. and come to think of it.. arent we all taught by the same teacher when we were in sec 1 and 2? to have the same teacher for the whole year, it helps to monitor student's progress and development. the teacher can build a better rapport with the students (if they like him or her in the first place) and slowly aid the students in their weak area. that will be better, at least for the students. they dont have to bear the agony of changing teachers every now and then.

p.s.: this entry was written on moment of impluse after reading my darling's blog. it's sad. i feel sad for them, their agony.

on a side note.. i got my diploma in accounting le! =)

C5444

ha.. finished sbr today! quite satisfied with my timing lah.. ard 2h 5 mins.. but was aiming for 2h or below.. reason for not achieving my target can be atributed to my constant procrastination to train! so next year ba! must really thank jing song for running with me! good to have a company ard when running so long dist, someone to talk to =) if not it will be really super boring to just keep running running n running! route was okie but i felt that the east coast stretch was kinda too long! paid $25 not to run in east coast park loh.. on top of that, the oranisation was rather messy! took hell lots of time to collect back my bag and the goodie bag is cui! leaving all that aside, i completed the race! yay!

-to put one foot in front of the other; run

corporal punishment vs discipline

was walking back to the staff room after some invigilation today. saw ncc troops training and some poor sec 1 ncc boys being punished by facing the wall, like those 面壁思过 kind of thing. they were punished as they didnt bring their no.4 and the walls were like 10cm at most away from their face. upon seeing that, i was like "what the hell!" but i didnt do anithing either.
Given it's wrong to forget to bring their uniform, i dont think the kind of punishment metted out was just. Even teachers nowadays are not allowed to ask students to do that. Though it may appear to be a light "sentence", it's the kind of psychological pressure and stress created on the guilty parties. Come on, they are just sec1, we shldn't subject them to this kind of mental trauma! what's more the "law enforcers" are only 2-3 years older than them! are they mature enough to give out this kind of punishment? can they put aside personal feelings and perform their duties as professionally as possible? as much as school tries to give students opportunities to hone their leadership skills (if any), i feel that they should be a series of guidelines to what kind and form of punishment that should be given for any offences. we are training leaders, not disciplinarians. so they can jolly well hone their leadership skills by being involved in planning, execution of events and leading of their own platoons.
what's more sec 3 n 4s are way too young to decide what kind of punishment to give! if a teacher were to punish these so called seniors in class using the same form of punishment, and the sec1s or 2s happen to withness this, what will they think about it? aint it very contradicting? and the seniors will feel humiliated. this will be a circuituous argument. but i seriously hope teachers bothered to care abt cca rather than to see it as a form of extra responsibilities. am still very disturbed by what i saw.

How old do you want to live till?

I asked my parents this question while watching the national day rally.
Dad said 82. Coz that's when his cpf retirement fund runs out.
Mum said as long as she can still walk. It's a painful not to be able to walk.
Ha how long do i want to live? As long as i can enjoy life? i haven thought abt it yet =)

Procrastinator

Man! i am a procrastinator! I feel like a pack of lazy bones! I wanted to start my revision 2 weeks ago and here I am now with nothing in progress! Teaching's really tiring; it sucks the energy out of me when I am done with my day's work. =( And i slpt thru my weekends!!! I gotta start i gotta start! I gotta get myself ready for uni, ready for life overseas and my parents ready for life without me! Give me motivation, pls!

*whiney*

On scholar-ships..

(Disclaimer: the author is in a cranky mood. what's written in the following paragraphs may not be pleasing, esp. to those under "S". you are advised to skip this entry. read at your own risk.)

hmm... been asked quite alot of times abt y y y i chose not to take up.. kinda sian to keep repeating my answers and sometimes when i aint in the right frame of mind, i will start to blabber nonsense.. but try not to take my comments too seriously coz i aint really in the perfect mood to write abt this topic, just have to get it out of my mind so i can start on other stuffs..

Yes, the big word starting with the letter "S". To most, it's something prestigious and glamourous, something worth fighting for; or so we were trained to think. It is this illusive notion of having "free" education, secured job in the future and being placed on the fast-track to success that has made people yearn for it, badly. Pardon me for being cynical, will this always be the case or just merely a rosy picture we have painted to assuage our fear? Often, some may be badly caught up in the chase for this illusive "pie" that they lost track of their directions. Is getting this "pie" so important that one can cast aside their person dreams and line themselves along their sponsor's direction?

I am not trying to make a sweeping statement or some erroneous generalisation. Some of the people i met really have no idea what they are in for after their studies. It's kinda parochial to think of "S" as some immediate form of money to see you through the education of your choice. If you were to look beyond, it's the job/bond it entails that will ultimately change or influence the kind of life you lead. I am trying to be sarcastic, but dont you find it rather "insulting" to let your sponsor decide where they want to assign you? It's foolish to try to convince oneself that you will have interest in the job. At the point when one's trying to decide whether to take up, there are way too many factors at influence to make an unbias choice. Are you sure that you will definitely like the job? or are you just plain trying to convince yourself that you will slowly like the job? Let's all face it, you have to really experience doing that particular job before you can decide whether you like it or not. Then here comes another problem, arent all "S" suppose to be adaptable, all rounded and ...?

Adaptability vs interest. No doubt one may adapt easily to any changing environment, there will ultimately come a point when one's too tired to change to suit the environment anymore. adaptability may be a good short term trait but it's interest that will ultimately drive one towards the path he/she wants and excel. Face it, if you dont have the interest, every waking moment of serving your bond will be tormenting. And slowly, you will start to entertain the thought of breaking (branded the ultimate immoral act of all) b--D. And if you were to let your "inner evil" enroach you, that's wad i call unethical.

People think that it's cool to go on fms. but the truth is, it's hard to tie over financially. With an "S", almost everything's paid for, planned for. but with fms, i am my own travel agent, insurance agent, bank agent, finance controller and the list goes on.. and my family aint that financially apt in paying my fees. despite all the trouble, i value freedom; the joy of choosing what i want to be in the future. that's y i chose to be daddy's mummy's "S"!

Freedom is what i chose. Free.

Life..

was having lunch today with Mr choy and ah gal, and it became a very meaningful life lesson=) there's really alot more abt relationships, breakups, how both gender behaves differently, game theory, "fishing" so on and so forth that you can learn by sharing=) hmm.. different priorities in life at different stages, guess that's really true yeh? ha i love teaching.. the best way to learn is to teach! am a star-fish saver.. for now =)

aim high, dream far.. .emo shot yeh?

I can fly!

Man i really enjoy being home! i miss the feeling of being home, especially on a weekend where everyone's in! shall stay home as often as i can, 6 weeks left only!!! ha i really like this pic of me!! super nice!! feel like i am flying, not on a descent, but ascending! freedom n dare to dream! 往前飞!

Sat.. went for the british council uk bound students predeparture event.. wasnt really a smashing event, fell below my expectations. but got the chance to meet up with lotsa frens from bmt, sch and wad not.. those whom i had really lost touch! got to talk to seniors at camb, and also fellow pple going there the same year =) feels warmly, hopefully will be fun there!

Sun.. after a swim, i suddenly had a craving for twistees after walking past the shop at my void deck! bought a big packet!! been really long since i last ate a pack of twistees! curry favour, my favourite! thinking back.. it was this devilish junk food tt made me fat when i was in pri sch! had to have a pack a day!!! oh well.. i dun care! shall eat whatever i want now! am realli gonna miss singaporean food (and junk food!) !!!

My favourite junk!

Pawnees Kayaking!

Today, being a holiday for me(perks for being a moulder of future gen!), woke up super early this morning to make visa! lucky i was no.2 in the queue and didnt have to wait! muahhaha.. then headed down to pasir ris sea sports club for kayaking with oac!

turns out that there's only 4 of us! zm, cons, pg n me! small group, but its the company that matters! chop chop settled our booking, payment and wad not and we hurried off for corney(sp) island! journey that was tumultuous; sea was choky, erratic wave n current constantly drove us off course, and we haven kayaked for AGES! after some superhuman effort and determination, we reached our destination n that's where all our fun began! (wanted to proceed to punggol beach but we gave in to the super nice sandy beach, sunny weather, good food, wonderful company!) zm was nice to make toast for all.. so full of 爱心! n we bought oranges from ntuc! being gentlemenly, helped them peeled all the oranges! while we were lazing around, decided to take corny pictures! tried taking mid air shots with all kinds of position, crazy shots and dunking geokz into the water!!! was super fun and full of crap! but pictures were cool okiez! pple who didnt join us, u will be darn jealous!

we were left exhausted after all our fun! n we decided to head back to our starting point! sea was rough n we were again the current with strong offshore wind! but being high and cranky from all the fun we had, our spirits were not to be beaten. we sang national day songs, oac songs, ohana songs and everything to do with oac! really brings us back to times when we were trainees, then instructors! how i miss those times! wanted to cap geokz n cons when we were close to beaching up but failed! oh well, we still rewarded ourselves with a bunch of fun, nice pictures and dunking cons into the sea! ha.. enjoy! i miss oac!

i like the way my life is now. i want to enjoy every moment of it, before i fly. leave no regrets behind, no strings attached. my life.

the kind of feeling has start to creep in..

Urgh! the feelings of nostalgia, not wanting to leave home, hoping to bring everything with me, have started to slowly creep in.. went back to school today though there was no pay.. looking at the students in their house tee, cheering on their frens, housemates during the sports meet really brings back lotsa beautiful memories.. it felt as though i was back to my secondary school times, when life was simple, everything was wonderful.. how i miss sec sch years.. but luckily i was able to go back to teach! realise that my students are getting funnier, cuter and crappier day by day. naughty yet adorable =) i will miss them!! it's definitely a challenging yet daunting task to teach.. but seeing their adorable faces beaming with youthful and a tinge of naughtiness makes me want to educate them even more=)

on my way back, was listening to national day songs=) never once have i been so patriotic. guess it's one good thing teaching has moulded me =P i will miss singing nice, beautiful national day songs, watching ndp parades, fireworks and etc.. hmm.. i will miss everything!

okie here are some photos i found..

Vandalism.. haha

Almost the whole class came back for speech day..

t.e.a.c.h

since i got 2 more mths to spare, decided to take up teaching at my alma mater, rv =) have started teaching for 2 weeks already and was assigned 4 classes, chem n bio=) timetable was bad, workload was almost equivalent to that of full time teacher, but it is a good learning experience.. now i understand how exasperated my teachers felt when i was still a student. teaching at my alma mater also brings back alot of memories; the same white, distinctive uniform, attending morning assembling, singing school song and national anthem, hearing "起立" and "行礼", teachers who are now my colleagues, the same old tuckshop aunties who remembers me and many many more.. man i feel nostalgic! hmm.. shall do my best to 化愚化顽!