Stories of me and myself

Kids say the darnest things. I agree.
They can spin all kinds of theories!

Eg. Waterfalls are formed by freeze-and-thaw action.
Eg. Freeze-and-thaw action happens when rocks expand and contract due extreme temperature.
Eg. Weathering is the change in temperature within the day.
Eg. For all you know, trees might be more harmful than ever... having a conspiracy to wipe out the human population, while putting on a front.
Eg. Water falls to the ground as perspiration.

Sigh. Mark. Puke. Sigh. Mark. Puke. Sigh, Mark. Puke.

The week wasn't all fun and laughter. I had to deal with attitude-problem kids and defiant kids.

Mainly a Sec 1 girl who claimed I didn't inform her of the test, that she didn't study and shoved the paper to me claiming she doesn't wanna do. I calmly told her that I had informed her not once, but twice. In both lessons before the test. And she didn't need to study to pass the test. If she had paid attention in class, she wouldn't have this problem. For the latter, I mainly stared at her and asked her "What kind of attitude is this? This is a test. Do you have the right to do this?" She had nothing to say. And I was flaming inside. After school during the extra lesson, I asked her again what she thought the purpose of the test was. And I explained the relevance, and urged her to study for the next test and score at least a B. What high hopes I have.

She acted up again in my other class. Refused to pay attention. And it has been building up for several weeks. I gave her more than 3 chances in class, by warning her. In the end, she retaliated in a rather rude manner. I burst. I told her to shut up and keep quiet. Hmm. Then I realised it meant the same thing. But I think I must have been really fierce, cos I have never blown my top before in class. I dunno what came over me. But I let it go cos she was just stunned. I din care. No soft talk whatsoever. But I did feel bad after that. But I also know that she will continue to be distracted in class. At least it's not my class, but her attitude. Gonna talk to her mother soon.

A Sec 3NA boy whom I confronted cos he was oh-so defiant. So much so that I cornered him all the way to the corner of the class where he had no where to run. And I made him apologise to me. But of cos I wouldn't accept his staring at me when I told him to look up when I soft-talked to him. And his buay gam buan "Sorry lah!" and his kiam pa look. I gave him 3 chances and each time he repeated it. So I said, "Fine, if you are unapologetic, you can continue standing here in the corner." I was so angry cos I felt betrayed. I had tolerated lots of his behaviour and he knows that I won't take action against him unnecessarily. Yet he acted up. But I guess, it isn't the teacher. Maybe something had triggered him. Emotional kids they are. Serious anger management problem he has. Should teach him to sing "I'm so pretty... so pretty..." like in "Anger Management"

Almost got into trouble with a Chinese teacher, whom I now kinda dislike. I thought that my Geog class was the last period of the day, so I told them that they could leave once they completed their worksheet. Some said they had Higher Chinese, some said they had Chinese... so I assumed it was another elective like their Chinese Drama after school. They left in batches, seemingly different classes. So I didn't bother. Then there was this group who said they didn't want to go to class. That it was okay not to go cos they didn't like the teacher. Not that it bothered me. But afterward, LHR (their Chinese teacher) walked into my class and asked what they were doing here and accused me of holding them back. I said I seriously didn't know they had his lesson. But I did tell them to hurry pack up and leave.

Afterward when I met my students again, they complained that he refused to let them do their composition which was included in their CA, and had deducted 5 marks from their CA. Hmm... they kinda deserved it, I thought. It's irresponsibility what. But when they said, "LHR wants to know who your teacher is, and he wants him to write a report". I was shocked! Shocked at his professionalism and his wisdom! (I'm being sarcastic here!) How professional of him to tell his Sec 1 class that he was gonna take action on a teacher! I was quite disgusted actually. Haha! But I shrugged it off. I knew he was on the losing end. If I had known, I wouldn't, in the life of me, hold up students, cos it's just irresponsible! I told my ct about it, and he said, "If he dares to come approach me, I will tell him off. I've been dying to do that." Hahahaha! I love my ct!

Yep, and the week was also filled with other irritating personalities. But it's over. And they are never more than the nice people around me. Heh.

Such is a teacher's life.

One less week for practicum. It's a mixture of happiness and relieve mixed with unwillingness.
Relieve cos I can finally take a good break, say byebye to some irritants, etc.
Unwillingness number one, cos I'll miss my cts, fellow trainees and bubbly kids.
Unwillingness number two, cos the going will only get tougher.
Aiyah, whatever... bring it on.... I can take it! Haha! (Yaya papaya....)

So how was the week? It was an interesting week.

Lots of rushing to the very very last minute cos I am such a procastinator. So much so that my fellow trainee had to help me go to class and set up the computer, help me staple my notes and all. Cos I was either busy printing, getting the key to the room or informing students of the change of venue. Hee. Thank God for the help!

I experimented with different ideas, for the fun if it all.
Here's some sharing.

1) I got the kids to use plasticine to make landforms. Then they were to slice them up and outline them, one layer after the other. Then they were to identify what they had just drawn. From there, they would understand how contour lines originate from, and would have a better understanding of how to visualise the landform from contour lines. Really creates quite a visual image. Just try with simple landforms like hill/plateau. If anyone figures out how to create a valley and obtain its contour lines easily, please let me know.

2) I made a volcano eruption. It's not easy to conduct an outdoor lesson. P-in-P should know. Haha! But I did it after school, so even if they were chaotic, it was ok cos I was laxed and also no one would complain. I work on the principle of interest. I will conduct an interesting lesson. It's up to you to whether you wanna pay attention and benefit or not. If you don't care, I also don't care. Cos what I am doing is actually outside the basic syllabus... just an extra activity to help students understand better.

I had forgotten to bring down the materials needed for the volcano eruption, so I got this little boy to go to my table to get it. He came down with an empty paperbag. I was like, "Huh? You mean there was nothing on my table?" So I had to go up with him. Guess what he did? He had removed all the materials from inside the paperbag and brought down the empty paperbag!
Should I have laughed or should I have cried or should I have scolded him? Heh. Of course I laughed. I laugh at everything! Hee. Have to give him credit for following instructions to the very core of it lah. Hee. "Bring down the paperbag."
Yep, there are instances where we must assume zero knowledge, and thus give SPECIFIC instructions. "Bring the paperbag from my table, with ALL its materials in it, down here. Thank you very much."

The funny thing is that, the volcano was so UGLY! They had wrapped the plasticine around the bottle... thus producing a skinny-looking volcano with figure! EW! And I had added too little red colouring. So guess the colour of the lava? It was PINK! EW EW EW! Hahaha! So it wasn't too successful an eruption. But at least I tried it. If I had not tried it, I wouldn't know where to improve rite? Hee. Excuses excuses excuses....

And I also had another big class role-play with my Sec 2 class. This time for the race riots. More experience now, and the kids are more used to the procedure... so it was less chaotic and more systematic. But I still think the previous role-play was better. Hee. Though of cos the kids still enjoyed it cos they get to whack each other upside down! Heh. I wish I was a kid in the riot too! But it was different this time cos my fellow trainee was LKY and my ct was Tun Razak. So it was a fun time.

Teaching is fun.

I was finally baptised on Good Friday (16/4/06).


Here's my testimony. Thank you all for being there and especially those who encouraged me before and during this walk with God.


Before I knew Jesus, I relied on myself for everything. I strived hard to achieve my goals and to live life to the fullest. However, I paused one day and asked myself. “What was all these for? Where would all these lead me? What is the meaning of life? Would life just end with a full stop? What would happen after we die?”

So, one fateful night when we were out for a walk, I asked Meow these questions. She told me about Jesus Christ, and the promise of salvation. It was a couple of years since I had met Meow, and there were certainly times when we would engage in conversations about religions. But there were always some questions and doubt in me. For example, how salvation is impossible in Buddhism, because with karma and reincarnation, you will always be reliving a cycle. People are not perfect, and it's impossible to be sinless. So that night, Meow’s answer about a promised destination after life with Jesus stuck with me.

Around that time, “The Gospel of John” and “The Passion of Christ” were showing. I watched both movies and I cried in “The Passion of Christ” but I didn’t understand why I was so touched by it. I engaged in meaningful discussions about them with Becky, Meow and another Christian friend. I was stunned when my friend told me that instead of us seeking God, God is actually the one who seeks us! And God actually sent His son down to die for our sins, thereby giving us eternal life!

But I was still paranoid over attending church because I didn’t know if I could fit in. I was worried over how I would get along with the people in church, how the service would be like, etc. However, I told myself that if someone invited me to church, I would go. And guess what? Meow invited me to church out of the blue! And of course I couldn’t decline the invitation! Even Aunty SK gave me a lift to church! And I felt very comfortable in church because it was small and the people were friendly and unthreatening.

But I thought it was just a coincidence, so I told myself again that if anyone were to give me a bible, I would believe in Jesus. And indeed, Meow gave me a really suitable Backpack bible! I was shocked, but I thought I would try again for a last time just to prove that it isn’t all a coincidence. So I thought to myself that I would believe in Christ if I was invited to a cell group. And of course, I was invited to cell group! And the people in the cell were extremely friendly, and they were sincere. However I was still unsure over how to become a Christian. And I told myself that the chance would come when a pastor asked the question. And God really knows all my thoughts! After several services, there was once when a pastor did ask if anyone was ready to give their life to Jesus. I raised my hand. He prayed for me and I gave my life to Jesus that day. I was convinced that God had been seeking me through the many signs, and I needed no more convincing.

Since then, life has never been the same.

Jesus said, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)”, and this rejuvenates me whenever I am drained. I also have the promise of the power of Jesus, the One who created the Earth and the Universe! “I can do all things through Him who gives me strength (Philippians 4:13).” And “He will never leave me nor forsake me (Hebrews 13:5)”. I know that God is always with me and I can always rely on Him. Everything happens for a reason, according to His will, and He only wants the best for us because He loves us so. He loved us so much that He sent His only son down to earth to die for our sins. Therefore, regardless of how tough the going is, I know that I can survive it because I have Jesus.

I recommend "The Producers" if you are up for a 2-hour non-stop whacko movie, with NO sane characters throughout.
It's entertaining. Heh.
And if you want a preview to the movie, you can look up Emay jiejie who can do Ulla's accent perfectly! Heh.

It was a "relaxing" start to the day, watching a 10am movie and having the entire theatre to ourselves (Emay jiejie, Meow and myself). Other than the fact that it was at 10am! Heh. But I was EARLY! Haha! Yes, EARLY, people! Yes, I shall have to pay tribute to the Meow for the morning call, lest she goes on and on about how significant her morning call was! Hee.

Attended a wedding dinner at Grand Copthorne. My mum's friend's daughter's wedding.
Not particularly enjoyable. Thank God I had the instinct to bring Apple along! Cos as I expected, my mum was the first to arrive! I mean, how often do I turn up the earliest?! And so I entered my workaholic mode and actually managed to churn out quite alot in the 1 hour that we were sitting on the sofa waiting! And then we were placed at a table with strangers. So we ate in silence. For 3 whole hours, with a fake and condescending smile now and then. And small talk of course. Sigh. What a chore. Why do we bother attending weddings when we don't know ANYONE and NO ONE knows us?! WHY?

Maybe it's the food and the opportunity to dress up? Hmm.. Those are the only 2 reasons I could come up with in my position. But at least the food was good. Picked up a few tips and new recipes. Gonna try them out someday. Heh.

But now I just have the cheese cake / choc cake craving. What's wrong with me?!

My mind is filled with how to make a model volcano erupt, how to conduct another history role-play lesson, formulate a source-based lesson, worry over my kids failing my test, etc.

Am getting excited over baptism tomorrow.

Am blabbering. I ought to sleep. It's past 3am.

Good Friday. An important day because our dear perfect Lord Jesus Christ sacrificed His life for all mankind's salvation this day, almost 2000 years ago.

Service was unique today. But I must say it was very moving and significant. The video clips, the hymns, the prayers. Thank you Lord Jesus for dying on the cross to redeem our sins. "For God so loved the world that He sent His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

Lunch was at PS with cell. Cos Meow the VIP was there, and 5 of us could not squeeze into a cab. So we had a fun ride on MR-T to Clementi. It was fun... the silly gestures, jokes, etc. But it poured "meowmeow and woofwoof" (according to Eliza) before we reached Clementi. So it was a arduous walk and a partially drenched dash to the sports hall. Chien joined us soon after. Hee. A Vana White soon-to-be tennis convert! Woohoo! 6 of us (HF, Merf, Emay, Meow, Chien and myself) just oh-ah-pei-ah-som whenever we completed a doubles match, continuously for the 2 hours that we booked the courts.

Then after, Emay jiejie, Meow, Chien (the Vana White no more) and myself stayed back to continue playing on the unpaid, unoccupied court for another hour. It was a smashing good time! We saw me getting whacked on the head by the shuttlecock, courtesy of my dear partner Meow... to Chien dancing/prancing for the shuttle... to using both hands to hold the racket, tennis style, and even to the extent of using her left hand to whack the shuttle(!).... to Meow jumping for high shots, missing them and exclaiming "No one saw that" to her various techniques of pretension to avoid embarassment, which were truly entertaining... to Emay jiejie perfecting the art of siam-ing the smashes. Haha!

We had an exciting time in the showers too! (Eh come back! This is a CLEAN blog! Heh.)
Showering together (in different cubicles, you cartoon!) reminded me of hall. Sigh. Good times they were!

We discovered that Emay jiejie is "so brave"! She rescued Chien (the damsel in distress) from a formidable enemy - Xiao Qiang! We all heard a shriek from dearest Chien... and through the shrieks and muffled explanation... we figured that Xiao Qiang had launched a sneak attack on poor Chien! And because her defences (Meow and myself) were being deployed to the showers and immobile, only Emay jiejie (the most powerful defence) was available. So Emay jiejie rescued Chien with ease! And Chien revealed her true character.... her true bimbotic self... when she exclaimed, "You're so brave..." (in her sweet sweet voice and adoring expression) *twinkle twinkle in eyes* Aww..... But seriously, thank God that Chien brought a normal huge towel... such that she could design a tube-dress for herself when she migrated from one cubicle to the other. Hee. *Sexy sexy* Hahaha! Imagine if she only had the small exercise towels that we usually bring! Hmm... cover where huh?? We decided that if that was the case, she could then practise the "siam-ing" positions that were practised on the court. Hahaha!

Thereafter, we proceeded to Tiong Bahru Plaza for dinner. Mmmm... chwee kueh, chicken wings, Hokkien Mee (YUMMY!) and lemony limey sugar cane. *satisfying* Funny thing is, we had an early dinner, at 6pm. I predicted that Chien would complain she was hungry at 8pm. I was almost accurate. She was hungry at 730pm. Heh. We headed to IKEA for hotdogs. We bit into the hotdog at 754pm. Quite on-the-dot lah. Haha! And we came to the conclusion that Meowmeow is not only SHORT (without her heels), but she is also STUPID (in a funny way. Cos in reality, she's actually quite smart. Just that her sis stole more of the latter genes. Heh.) Hee. The most amusing thing is that she just kept on proving the point over and over and over again! =)

We decided that since the nite was still young, we would rent a movie and just hang out. So to the Meow's place we went. Since the weather was nice and unwindy, I suggested playing badminton on the road outside Meow's house. Man, it felt so good that I was so glad we did it! Reminded me of those days when we were still young and carefree. Well, I'm still young, just not carefree. Heh. Badminton in the dark really trains your eyesight and reaction! As Meow put it, it seemed like we were at Badminotn Commando training camp! We didn't fare too well though... our record was only 23 continuous hits. And we stopped only when we were interrupted by a TNT truck which parked in our way. Anyway we were sweaty already, except for Chien who never does perspire cos she has invisible pores. Hee. So I took a shower at Meow's place... more memories? Heh.

We borrowed a VCD - "Walk the Line". We watched it under rainy conditions. Why? Because the aircon started peeing all of a sudden! It peed all over the TV, the wires and all! So much such that it needed a towel and a pail! It would only stop when we gave it a rest. Lucky thing. Only if we had that power at work! Continuously pee till we are given the day off! Hmm, I cun really comment on the show, except that "June Carter" had a really incredible voice, the songs were awesome, Johnny Cash the druggie has a particularly disgusting way of handling the guitar which really irks me, and guys in general are jerks and dumbos. Yep, those were the few parts I caught in between my snoozing. Hee.

So yeah, GOOD was my Friday. Thank God for a fun-filled time of worhsip, reverence, exercise and fellowship.

I found this on J's blog and decided to plagiarise it. Apparently it's being published in one of Taiwan's few English newspapers. Wonder how reliable it is... need to evaluate its reliability by examining its provenance, tone, accuracy of content and purpose, also not forgetting to do a cross-reference with other possible sources and our own contextual knowledge! Heh.

Anyway, this is the article....

"Three Found after failed quest for Karate Master

Three Singaporeans were found safe on Thursday after getting lost on what they said was a mission to find a legendary karate expert on a snowly mountainside in Japan.

One of the three men told police in Hirosaki that they had come to Jpan after his dying father, a martial arts expert, had ordered them to seek out the karate master.

"Japan looked so small on the world map that we thought we would be able to find him straight away," one of the group, aged between 25-50, was quoted as saying..

All three were dressed in light clothing and huddling in an abandoned car when they were rescued from the slopes of 1,600m high Mount Iwaki in the early hours of the moring after calling for help on a cellphone..a police spokesperson said..

"Neither police nor local people konw of anyone running karate classes in this area," the spokesperson added."


Disregarding the reliability of it all, and allowing the purpose (if it is to make Singaporeans look stupid and jeopardize our reputation) to come through, I really felt a huge sense of shame after reading it, especially this.
"Japan looked so small on the world map that we thought we would be able to find him straight away,"

You don't have to be a Geography teacher or Geog student to know that Japan is so much LARGER than Singapore! Hello? Where have you been?!! Between the ages of 25-50 somemore! They should at least have several years of compulsory education! And even then, with the load of information through globalization, they should at least be more knowledgeable and aware! The only justification I can think of is, them being lost on the cold mountain and freezing, coupled with fear made them lose their mind and say dumb things like this. But it can't be... cos they would have had to plan beforehand. But apparently they didn't, and were too yaya payaya... wearing light-clothing while searching on a snowy mountain.

Argh... are their ignorance for real? Is ignorance really bliss? Apparently NOT in this scenario!
Geography IS IMPORTANT, people.
Geography teachers are important too! Heh.

"So as not to suffer from depression, lower your expectations." Do you agree? Explain your answer.

I think adjusting our expectations is necessary when you consider the calibre of the students, or the nature of the tasks, or even our own abilities. But it's important to not undermine the basic standard. Or we will be producing substandard results and not spurring ourselves or the students on to achieving their full potential.

Where do you draw the line for the limit of their capabilities? How do you know when your expectations of them are within their capabilities or beyond them? I think it's important for us to set a relatively high standard for the kids first. But to be prepared for them to fall below it. Then we work out the factors why they failed to achieve that standard, and possibly adjust our expectations accordingly. Cos if we set relatively high expectations, at least if they fall short of it, they still have room to work and improve on. And if they exceed it, so be it! Great! But of course we need to take care in not placing ridiculous expectations on them. We need to understand them, by interacting with them, by finding out more about them, by building a relationship with them... so much so that we have a common understanding of what the expectations are... and hopefully work towards it hand-in-hand. Cos I personally think that it's impossible for us to achieve those expectations alone.

Consider setting the expectations together. At least they have ownership.

Be contented.

Backdated from Friday (7/4/06)

Warning. This might be a tediously long entry.

I woke up today to an exciting/packed schedule.

Today was Sports Day at my school and lessons would end at 1115am. I had only one class, but the most difficult class to handle (Sec 3). Guess what? I got the time of the lesson wrong and was in such a mad rush that I didn't have time to print their lecture notes. I solved it by asking them to copy the notes. But.... the jinx of a projector failed me again! So I declared a lesson of fun and game.

Then I had to complete my NIE assignments, print them and deliver them to my supervisors in NIE respectively. I also had to rush back to Yio Chu Kang stadium for Sports Day. The most exciting part? I had a 3-hour time frame to do so. Hee. So it was a continuous rush. Seemed like I was training for the Amazing Race! =)

I expected Sports Day to be super hyped up, high-spirited, with spontaneous cheering and all. But I guess I was comparing my own experience of Cedar's Sports Day with the school's and placing my own expectations on it. So yeah, I was sorely disappointed. Guess you can't compare... cos Cedar's known for its unity, awesome school spirit and great cheers. (Yes, Cedarians can REALLY CHEER!) But despite being disappointed, at least thank God there was company. Of course the TT X 4 (Trainnes Teachers, so claimed) had each other's company, and DW, who is ever-so-friendly and teasable. Heh. Apparently I acted out of composure, even before students, VIP and parents, when I jumped on her when the students were taking a picture of her, and even almost resorted to playing Pepsi Cola 123 with her. Hmm... I don't see anything wrong there. Haha!

Most of the teachers were also involved in a 400m race, divided between 6 team members. Well, not that we knew where to position ourselves! Haha!! Not that we knew who our team members were! We just spread ourselves out and ran when the person in your lane passed you the baton! There was an instant when someone ran out of the line and almost passed the baton to the wrong person! Hee. Also, guess who the fastest runner was? The Principal! Hahah! Why? Cos everyone slowed down so as not to overtake him!! *Grin* Such is politics! I wouldn't have cared less if I were in the position and was able to outrun him! Hee.

We proceeded to J8 for dinner, a couple of us. We travelled by MRT and were of course accompanied by the students. My class somemore! Haha! Was quite fun though... teasing them and them asking us teachers to treat them and so on. And then right across the shopping centre, you could hear them shouting "Miss T...., Mr P...., Miss..." You get the idea. Haha! We quickly siam-ed! Dinner was fulfilling, not the food lah. But the tips and advice you get from the different teachers with different perspectives and different styles of handling the students and different teaching strategies.

And since DW was still high, I asked her if she wanted to play badminton with Chien and Becky at Clementi at 9 cos we were short of the Meow. She agreed. And we all played. It was an hour of fun and laughter, with Chien and myself pairing up against Becky and DW. Not by choice but by Heaven's will. Heh. Cos we resorted to "Oh-ah-pei-ah-som" and we retained this pairing for 4 consecutive games! Hahaha! Chien was Vana White. It was funny! But I must say that when Vana White "zhou4 kang1" (work), she plays quite well! Hee. But of course the tennis trace is obvious! The funny thing is, I haven't done any exercise with Chien before, I think... and it only sunk in when I commented that her shoes were nice and she said that she has had them for several years. Hmmm.... Hee. We should all play more often. Oh, and something else I learnt... use the scare-technique when you are tired. Go "RAH" at your opponent. Hahaha!

We proceeded out of the Sports Hall after we were chased out when they sounded the bell and switched off the lights. Never have I seen Clementi Sports Hall in the dark! It looked quite scary. Anyway, Becky got picked up outside the Sports Hall by an ah-beng in black, standing beside a black car. He went, "Eh!" We all turned. It was WX lah! Suoer funny. Who gets picked up outside badminton Sports Hall?? Becky. Hahaha!

We decided on Mac's cos it's 24-hours, has aircon and we went there hoping for milkshakes. Our hopes were dashed. But we had a wonderful time hanging out. We talked about funny names... ranging from...
Tianqiao (overhead bridge),
Tianliang (Sunrise) - Tianqiao's brother. =)
Spyder (who's a rockclimber),
Yu Yuan Yuan ("Fishball") who's a round baby with surname Yu,
Leaf Hu (surname Hu and of course Chinese name "Ye Zi")....
Axilla - sounds nice and suitable for a girls' name? Anyone knows the meaning? It means armpit! Hee. Imagine it with surname Mao! Hahaha!
Eurine - Imagine when she goes to the doc's! Eurine test! =)
Monica Ching... Man!!! Hahaha!

We also learnt that in olden days, when a baby was born, they were named after the first thing that the father sees when he leaves the house. And given the kampong that they live in, dogs, cats, chickens, ducks were common! So it resulted in "Ah-Mao, Ah-Gao, Ah-Koi, "Ah-Ark"!!

So yeah, please do be careful when you name your children!! Children do take after whatever their name means!

Yeps... and the "most exciting day of my life" (I meant week lah! -dedicated to Chien) ended with a car ride in Chien's 'budget' aeroplane, where to obtain an oxygen mask / life jacket / snack / movie, etc, you'll have to pay $2 in coins. If not, you can call for help, which will cost you $5, or you can just suffocate and die in the most dire of circumstances. Heh. What great service! =)

Backdated post for Wednesday (5/4/06)

Guess what?

I spent my entire morning, afternoon, evening and night working on a lesson for my Sec 1s.
Lots of pictures and diagrams and pretty powerpoint slides.

And then, as I was transferring data between my comp, thumb drive and hard disk drive, I kinda deleted it.
But I didn't realise it till I rushed for class after my exciting Sec 2 class.
So, I didn't have my powerpoint slides.
I seem to be jinxed in this class leh.
Either my computer or anybody's laptop for that matter, doesn't work on the projector, or I have to be so dumb as to delete my beloved powerpoint slides!
Therefore I had to resort to using the whiteboard and the poor kids had to contend with my atrocious drawing! Hee.


Wonder what my kids' responses were?

I drew a volcano and they thought I was drawing a coconut/palm tree. (Know the layers of the volcano?)

They asked me why layers, so I explained that each time the lava flows out and cools, it forms a layer, and illustrated it with a piece of paper. Then the next layer and so on, each time raising the height of the paper, till it forms a huge volcano. Then when I thought they had gotten the idea, I stopped. And the smart alecks exclaimed, "Wow! Volcano so short ah!" *Diao*

I asked them what colour they thought magma was. The answer was "purple".
Reason: I was using a purple marker. *Diao again*

I asked. "Where do you think you can find the most volcanoes in the world?"
Answer: "Toa Payoh"
AIYOH!

Haha! But I did have fun lah. And they did learn something about folding and volcanoes. =)

The worse thing was, I had been so confident that I asked my ct to do an observation for me for this class today!
Haii.... that is life.
But the good thing is that he's chin chai (anything-also-can)!
And thank God that I had not left any blanks in the slides for the kids to fill in!
So yeah, I still had a rather fulfilling lesson.

Thanks to Pengy jiejie that I didn't resort to bringing my pillow to illustrate folding! She suggested using layers of paper, and that is what I did. It got the point through well and good. Hee.

And after much searching through, I finally came upon a lone copy of my supposedly dead powerpoint slides! Saved somewhere I dunno where! But I found it! And hence I shall share some of the beauty with you. Can imagine how engrossed I was in searching for these pics and creating interest in Geography that I spent so much time on it? Haii... but searching for such awesome pics is probably one of the joys of preparing for a Geog lesson! =)

Swiss Alps, Europe


Andes Mountain Range, South America, Observe the folds! Aren't they amazing?


Canadian Rockies


Sunset at Mount Fuji, Japan (Aww...)


Himalayas. The undulating landscape just mesmerizes me!


Now for the volcanoes....

Mount Bromo, Indonesia. It erupted recently.


Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa. I remember studying this in Sec School! Heh. But I didn't imagine it with a giraffe! ("I'm a Toys 'R' Us kid...")


Mount Mayon, Philippines. I studied this in Sec School too! Just to show some eruption... a cloud of ash and dust.


I love Geography! =)

A conversation which took place this morning. It came about cos my ct's laptop crashed, along with all his work and exam papers and what have you. It sucks.

Anyway, we started discussing about what the best storage device for backups is.
CD-Roms will disintegrate sometime or later...
Hard Disk Drives can crash...
Thumb Drives can crash...
Floppy disks.. well, the storage space is too small and it's outdated anyway...
Hard Copy... not as efficient...

K: "So what is eternal?"
Me: "God"
K: "Oh yah! Can we store it with Him first? Then we retrieve it when we need to use it."
Me: "Imagine teaching when in heaven.."
K: "Yah! You'll go "Good morning little angels! Today we are going to learn F=ma." Hahaha!"

I think a prerequisite for teachers is cuckoo-ness! =)


And we also realised that kids nowadays don't take to the hard approach. But they do give in to constant nagging.
For example, "Why dun you do your work? Do lah... Just do... very easy one. Do lah... Do already you can go. Quick do... why don't you just do it? Do lah..." Hahaha! And they get so exasperated that they actually do their work! *thumbs-up*

Here are pics which never fail to make me drool. Hee.

Introducing my new nephew... Ryan!








And not to forget his gor gor... Zavier! Look at how Zavier sayangs his didi! Hahaha! So sweet rite? =)





I love babies. But I especially love my nephews! Handsome ones... Hee.

Just remembered this incident that happened exactly a week ago.

Was playing badminton as usual when we were approached by this uncle from Becky's workplace. He asked if we could play a friendly match with his centre's kids. Why not, rite? More fun also what... so Emay jiejie and myself paired up lor. It was a very fun game all in all. Hee.

Anyway, the gist here is that, that uncle asked me if I played for my school, and which school I was from. So I conveniently told him Cedar Girls lor... cos the 2 girls whom we played against were from Secondary School mah. And the funny thing is, he proceeded to ask me which level I was in, as in whether I was in Sec 1,2,3 or 4! Oh man.... he actually thought I was a Secondary School kid?! Took me a little while to digest it... until Emay jiejie told him that I was TEACHING Secondary school kids! Hahaha!

But I was so amused at that! You mean I really am that young?! Haha! Looks, intellect or behaviour?! Hee. ALL?! Oh well.