Pain

I do not know the 5 young men who died in Cambodia recently. Neither do I know their family members. But somehow, I feel sad. I know how it feels to lose a loved one all of a sudden. The anguish,the grief, and the regrets. You would wish that you could turn back the clock, to spend more time with him or her, to say good bye. Life can never be the same again......

The "blaming game"

Around a week has passed by since the released of PSLE results. Met a few parents in the past few days (by coincidence), one or two have accepted the truth well but the others are still playing the "blaming game". WHO is responsible for their kids' poor results? To them, the possible culprits are namely, the school, the principal, the teachers and their own children. Most common complaints are : "School standard is too low", "the school only takes good care of the good pupils", "the school never stretch their children's potential to the limit", "the teacher is too fierce", "the child is too lazy" etc. The funny thing is they will never blame themselves. I have heard of a parent who walked away angrily who she learnt of her child's result. The mother left the poor child standing there, in tears.
There are parents who are simply "bo chap". For the past 6 years, they did not "push" their children to excel for fear of giving them stress. They are too busy to even check their daily homework or weekly spellings. Some even have no clue who their children's teachers are. On meet the parents' day, it is always no show for them. The excuses given are they are too busy or no point going as what the teachers said are the same every year......
It takes two hands to clap. The school and teachers will definately do our part, but we really need the parents' cooperation in order to make things work. There is no use crying over spill milk. There is no point "playing the blaming game."

My pupil - JJ

I have taught JJ for 2 years.
I heard stories about him from the moment I knew I was to teach him. He was a rather "difficult" child. When he was in the lower primary, he refused to attend lessons, walked out of the hall if the talk was too boring for him, dozed off in class and even tried to jump from the second floor!
I remembered on the very first day of sch, he slept through my lesson. Unlike other kids, he was unable to focus and concentrate. He would walked around in the classroom, doing things he liked. At first, I would tried to make him sit down. As time passes, I realised that it was not his fault, he just could not comprehend and understand what he did was wrong. What made things worse was that kids would teased him and said he was crazy. Whenever JJ was teased, he would not have much response except to tell his classmates that he is not sick! However, if one is to attack him physically, he would fight back. There was once it took three male teachers to nail him down!
After half a yr of observation, I sent him to the EP. He was then diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia. I finally know why he was such a "difficult" child. It is very difficult for a child with ADHD to study. With an ADHD and dyslexic child, it is almost impossible ( especially when the teacher has other 30 pupils to account for).
Knowing his condition, somehow makes his life easier for him. Instead of emphasing on his studies, I tried to build up his self esteem, by asking him to help me, by praising him in front of the whole class. I explained to the others that he is not crazy and stopped kids from teasing him. After a while, I see the change in JJ. His behaviour has improved tremendously and he listens to my instructions (though at times, nothing I said seems to work). But sad to say, academically, he did not learn much from me. Listening and oral skills, maybe, but not written work .
At times, I feel bad, cos I think more can be done for him.

成绩放榜了！

每一年的这个时候，一定有人欢喜有人忧。
今天一大早，一大群的小六老师便围在电脑前，等教育部把成绩传来。气氛非常紧张。我在那儿站了老半天，但却没有什么感觉。我可以理解他们的焦虑，但对我而言，我已经尽力了，学生们多数也尽力了，如果真的考不好，我们又能怎么样？小六会考虽然重要，但他们往后要走的路还很漫长。何必因为一次的失败而气馁呢？我深信只要他们拥有正确的价值观，态度积极，将来长大后一定没问题的。加油吧！！ This is not the end, it is only the beginning of many great things to come! (^-^)

My blogskin

As you know, I tried changing the blogskin but was unsuccessful. Since I did not know how to upload the BEAUTIFUL ones done up by others, I decided to attach a photo to my blog, and change the colours. Quite happy with it. In fact, I am glad that the upload from blogskin did not work out. Now my blog is really my kind of style. Simple and nice. The photo was taken in June in Melbourne. A snapshot that turned out quite nice. (^-^)
Moral of the story : There are more than one way to do something. If things don't work out, try others. It won't be the end of the world.

I give up!!

Tried for two hrs plus to change the blogskin but was stuck at the final part. Somehow, don't seem to understand the instructions given by my pupil. Sigh. Tired. Falling asleep Zzzz......

大切物

あなたにとて一番大切の物は何?　お金ですか?　キャリアですか?　または家族ですか?　

Exam Results

Finally receieved my exam results. Its a B+. Hee hee..... Not bad for someone who never studys. Rejoice with me !!!!! Yeah!!!!!! Wa Ha Ha Ha......

P.S Losing my mind. Time to let my hair down cos it is HOLIDAY!!!!

My IT skills

I was never good at IT. In fact, my hubby was surprised that I actually know how to blog. It took me two hrs just to figure out how to add the music and songs onto my blog!! I finally got it right with the help from my old friend XZ. Sigh. Pathetic. My next "target" - to learn how to change my blogskin to a BEAUTIFUL one. Ke ke....... Wonder how long that will take me. Anyone out there who can show me step by step how to do it?

Graduation

Yippie its the last day of school!!!!!! Always like this time of the year!!!!! The P sixes had their graduation ceremony today. As usual, at the end of it, most of the gals were crying and the boys ended up laughing at their friends. They would always remember this day, I guess. However, sad to say, there are some pupils who prefer to stay at home. They did not know what they have missed out. The singing and actions might seem lame to some, but the song in fact speak of hopes and aspiration. That was also the last chance they stood on the school's stage and performed with their friends. To those who bother to wake up early, and who had willing to forgo a few hrs of gaming time to attend this ceremony, good for you. You might not fully understand the purpose of this ceremony, but when you grow older, you would cherish this moment forever.

Perfection might not be so perfect after all

These few days, school is a "happening" place with quite a number of activities being carried out. There were the Sports Carnival, the P3-4 Chinese Proficiency Test, pupils were also away for the Leadership Camp and of course, the Prize Giving Day rehearsal has been on going almost everyday.
Speaking of the Prize Goiving Day rehearsal, P6 pupils had told me that they are pretty sick and tired of the whole thing and they just want to get it over and done with. I can't blame them.From the teachers point of view, practise made perfect. However to the pupils, repeating the same song and actions over and over again, wear away the joy and excitement that they initially felt bit by bit.

Stardust

Watched the movie "Stardust" on Friday nite. Though the story is a little bit kiddy as compared to other fantasy movie such as "Lord of the Rings", I love it. It is a mixture of fantasy and romance. Love the theme song by Take That.

You lied the sky, up above me
A star so bright, you blind me
Yeah yeah
Don’t close your eyes
Don’t fade away, don’t fade away
Oh
Yeah you and me we can ride on a star
If you stay with me girl,
We can rule the world
Yeah you and me we can light up the sky
If you stay by me sideWe can rule the world
If walls break down, I will comfort you
If angels cry, oh I’ll be there for you
You’ve saved my soul
Don’t leave me now don’t leave me now
Yeah you and me we can ride on a star
If you stay with me, girl,
We can rule the world
Yeah you and me we can light up the sky
If you stay by me side
We can rule the world
All the stars are coming out tonight
They’re lighting up the sky tonight
For you, for you
Yeah you and me we can ride on a star
If you stay with me, girl,
We can rule the world
Yeah you and me we can light up the sky
If you stay by me side
We can rule the world
All the stars are coming out tonight
They’re lighting up the sky tonight
For you, for you

Interview with the ah pek who was bullied

Bullies from UK

Knew of this incident recently. Although the ah peh was bullied by them, I think he has reached a stage whereby these mindless acts do not bother him that much anymore (read news report from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=490946&in_page_id=1770). Kudos to the uncle. I feel sorry for the 3 british. This whole incident only showed how childish, immature, inconsiderate and uncivilised they are, and they actually post it on the web to tell the whole world that they are just a bunch of grown up babies!! Shame on them! Pray hard our kids don't behave like them in the future.