boonbastic's Journal

10:49PM - Taipei here I come...

 In eight hours time, I will be on a flight to Taipei. Woohoo... Fortunately, didn't plan to go Bangkok this holiday. Just watched from the news that ALL flights to Bangkok has been cancelled. Protests in Bangkok is so rampant that the protesters have blocked all roads to airport..

This time round, we will be heading to Taipei, Kaohsiung and then to Kending. I am in charge for planning the itinerary in Kending. There are many attractions in Kending especially the beaches. Hopefully the cold weather will not dampen our spirit in touring the beaches in Kending. Alright, time to sleep so that can be fresher for the trip. =)

11:00PM - It's been a long while....

 I have not updated my blog for SIX months already. Been lazy lately to update my blog. Endless loads of work keep rolling in. Setting of exams, marking of papers, writing of students HRC in their report cards, SEM, work-planning for 2009. So for those tho say that teacher are very free after holidays starts, then they are very wrong.

Just finished my SEM documentation only last week. By the way, SEM is the school equivalent of how company obtain their ISO (quality class). Hence, SEM is the validation of the school admin for the work year. I have been working non-stop even when school term ended on 23 Oct. I only become freer after today but there are still a lot of loose ends I have not tied... I think I will still go back to school on and off to finish some work. Right now, I think I need to take my long-deserved rest after a whole long year of work.... I will be going to Taiwan next Thurs, woohoo.. My original plan for travel this year is to go Japan, Hokkaido but we shelved that plan aside because of the cost factor. I think I must make sure I go either Japan or US next year..

Times are bad this year, but like what SM Goh says, we must continue to spend whenever we can (within our limits) to keep the economy going. Hence, get ready to go your annual Christmas shopping. Sales are starting and it is really heartening to see the kind of discounts that retail stores are offering now.

Well, since I am "freer", I will try to update my blog regularly (at least for this hol). Right now, I am really looking forward to my Taiwan trip next Thurs. =)

9:14PM - blah blah blah

Long time neva update blog liao. Have been really busy for the past ten weeks. Setting tests, making notes, worksheets, setting exams and vetting exams. No wonder they say they say that it is very hectic for beginning teachers. Many ups and downs during the past ten weeks. I remember I was very down when I received a comment in a student's reflection book that she said the more I want them to make reflections on science lessons, the more they wouldn't write. This comment really pierce through my heart and sets me thinking whether have I made the right choice in insisting them to write reflections. I shared this sentiments with Widayah (my buddy colleague) and she gave me a lot of positive feedback and discussed with me what are the possible remedies to counter such adverse reaction from a student and the solutions actually worked... Thanks Wid!

On a positive note, I received quite a number of Caring Teacher Award nominations from my students (although I did not fulfil the pre-requisites), the feeling is indescribably good. This proves that my effort did not go down the drain and there are students who appreciate me. Well, exams are over and marking are OVER!!!! Yay!! Looking forward to June hols. But still have a lot of outstanding stuff to be followed up. SEM, PET Rocket enrichment prog, Blood Donation Drive, SPA videos, Sem 2 lesson plans....

Can't wait to go for my short getaway to Bangkok. (31st May 2008 - 3rd June 2008) hee .


Below are some random pics for the past 10 plus weeks.

Baby Faith (Bing's first daughter and my first niece!)                             Isaac and Ryan (Aren't they cute drinking milk tog?)
  

Sec 3 Adventure Camp                                                                                              River Crossing
  

Adventure Camp High Element Course
  

RCY Sec 4s and 5s                                                                                   RCY Campfire 2008
  

RCY Arts Fest Dance Girls                                                                                            Me n Cat
   
                                                   
                                                                                           Farhan and Abigail singing at Arts Fest
                                                    

Alvin's Birthday Cake (Combination of 8 cheese cakes) So cheesy!!
  

Current mood: blah

Current music: No Air - Jordin Sparks with Chris Brown

8:11PM - PAIN...

I was with my group of student supporters to lend our voice  to our RCY contingent for their Fancy Drill Competition at Bendemeer Secondary last Saturday. I felt slight discomfort in my stomach and I did not take serious note of it, thinking that it was just a just of mild stomach bloatedness (stomach wind). So I went home and rest instead.

The pain increased its intensity during night time and it became so excruciating that I have to ask my mum to bring me to a GP at 1 am. The GP looked very bey zai and keep asking me a lot of redundant questions. I am a bit pissed off with him cos he can't seem to point out what problem I am having. He just dismiss it as a gastric problem just because my previous history with the clinic stated that i had gastric problem. It was NOT a gastric problem because the pain was at my abdominal potion. However, he did give a constructive comment: " Go to the hospital if the pain (after the jab) did not subside after 2 hours.

Upon reaching home, I managed to catch an hour of sleep before the pain came again. This time round, I went straight to Tan Tock Seng Hospital. The doc there is really much more zai. after pressing my stomach for a few times, he suspect that it was appendicitis. He did a blood test for me and indeed it was appendicitis, I had to be admitted immediately and to have my surgery during the next few hours. The first thing in my mind was not about the surgery, it was about my students man, die liao, this time will miss a lot of lessons and the students will have to do a lot of catching up and I have to do a lot of remedial lessons.

Due to a lack of beds in TTSH, I was relocated to a bed by the corridor of a ward. Well, at first, i did not really mind it because of the pain in my stomach. When my mum and brother came, they wanted to change me out of the conspicious bed position to upgrade it to a higher class ward and unfortunately there was again not enough beds, so I was relocated to another bed position in a room.

When I was pushed into the Operating Theatre, it really felt like I am in a drama where the characters are pushed into the OT, haha. Well, the operation is a success because I dun noe a single thing that happened in the Op. hahaha! this is because i was on GA. Well. after i regain my consciousness. I remember that I was in a very very bad daze and my whole body cannot move at all. It was just like I am drunk. When I open my eyes, I saw my mum and brother. well, that feeling is really great because u noe that you have ur closed ones with you all the time. A moment later, Alvin turned up, heehee. Well, he informed a lot of our common friends so that they can come and visit me. Well, that really help not because I wanna bother them but because I was really bored in hospital as I could not move for the first 3 days and I can only lie on the bed. The only time I move out of bed is to stand up and pee into the urinal container, pathetic hor.

Well, I really wanna thank my second bro for doing all the hospital admin and constantly visiting me. I really appreciate it. Even when I have already discharged. he did not mind going to my school to collect the test papers of my students so that I can mark it next week. Thanks, BING!!!

Last but not least, I want to show you a disgusting pic: My wound!! heehee

Well, the tube beside the wound is to drain off excess blood and liquid in my inner wound during the recovery process. When the nurse was removing the tube, it was so painful that I wish I die. I was literally shouting in pain in the presence of the nurse and doctor. so paiseh

2:31PM - Hey, thats your pic!!!

Are u shocked???

Current mood: cranky

7:31PM - Survived but sian....

Four weeks have passed and it has not been easy adjusting myself in the new school. Fellow colleagues and staff have been very nice and friendly and I can say that they are friendlier than those in my Practicum School.

There are tons of work to be done and sometimes I really don't know where and when to start. Aside from these, there are times whereby students are mischievous and rowdy in class. Such incidents in class really make my day bad. Many students say that I have the not-so-fierce look and thus, many of the naughty students are not afraid of me. In fact, some of them are stretching my limits and testing my patience. Perhaps, I started with the wrong approach at the start of the year by being myself. Being myself means that I am negotiable and able to compromise.

Some comments by students can also hurt your feelings if you cannot take it down. This is why many people say that you need to be thick-skinned in order to be a teacher such that you will not be affected by student's words. Words like boring, uninteresting came like arrows that are directed straight into my heart. This really make me feel uneasy and disappointed with myself at the end of the lesson. This is especially true for my Physics class which I have no interest and passion in teaching. Not because of the class, the class generally is fun-loving and attentive in class. It is rather the nature of the subject and the lack of interest on my part. Imagine when you are being asked to motivate students' interest in a subject where you have no interest at all. This really sucks and i really don't know how to get around it. Teaching Chemistry is so natural to me and I can go on and on and on for the lesson.

What I can do now is to settle myself down quickly such that I can focus my efforts in preparing more interesting lessons and finding more resources for the classes. Sometimes, I am so lost that I just go into the class and teach impromptu. So, I really want to concentrate in making my lessons as lively and as interesting as possible!

Current mood: exhausted

Current music: Cowboy very busy - jay chou

9:16PM - The gate of "Hell" opens tomorrow

Do not be mistaken. Its not the seventh month yet. Its the reopening of school tomorrow. Its going to be chaotic tomorrow.

Kena a few responsibilities this time round. Think I will need at least a few months to get used to the life in Compassvale.

Wish me luck! =)

Current mood: nervous

Current music: Flat on the Floor

12:52AM - No Physics...

My HOD has contacted me. Good news!!! I will be teaching mainly Chemistry in Compassvale Sec. Yay, means that I may not need to teach my much hated Physics, well, at least for the next one year. =P

I will be told by this week about which classes I will be taking for next year. So excited... hehe

Watched "Freedom Writers" dvd last week. The film is inspired by this teacher who does her best to teach her students who come from all races but mainly blacks. The film addresses the current racial problems in poorer towns of US. The teacher bought all her students a copy of "The Diary of Anne Frank" out of her own pocket. The school refused to buy for the students because the HOD thinks that it was a waste of money to buy the books which the students will not take a second look at it. But the HOD was proven wrong and the students loved the book and they started to write their own diaries which are later collated into a book aptly titled the "Freedom Writers".

Went to MPH yesterday and incidentally spotted "Diary of Anne Frank". Due to my curiousity of what happened to Anne Frank during WWII, I went straight to the cashier and paid for it. Well, this is the first time I bought a book for pure reading purpose because I am not the kind of person who will read, which is why my English sucks, haha. I have read a few entries by Anne Frank and it really proved to be quite interesting and I think that is the key that unlocks the students' interest in reading.

Current mood: cheerful

Current music: Shakalaka Baby - Kelly Poon

8:27PM - Posting ....

Finally got my letter for the posting, waited dreadfully for the letter that was delayed for 4 days! Prior to the posting, I had originally requested to be posted to TPJC. There are a few reasons to it, first, no need to think about classroom management because the students are more mature and want to study so as to go to Universities. Secondly, TPJC is my alma mater and I really wanna have the chance to go back n teach my juniors. Third, I wanted to teach higher level Chemistry which I am more confident at. Teaching Physics is dreadful because I hated Physics since my secondary school days.

When I was told that all my other friends got their postings, I somehow had a very bad feeling. They all got their letters last Saturday and I got mine only on Tuesday. When I opened the letter, my heart sank to the bottom of the valley. I got posted to Compassvale Secondary!! First, I dun know where the hell is Compassvale Sec. Second, my hopes are dashed. I remained depressed for the next 3 hours, trying frantically to appeal against the posting. But after a while, i accepted my fate and I think it may not be as bad as I think. Well, teaching is about moulding the young, teaching secondary students is the same as teaching JC students. Moreover, I will be exposed to all kinds of students particularly the Normal Technical students.

People may think that I am comforting myself, even I myself think so too. My mindset have changed and I am really looking forward towards going to Compassvale Secondary. Wondering who my colleagues will be, how my superiors will be, which classes I will teach. If the teaching environment and colleagues are really very very bad, I will just have to endure for another 2 years and I can ask for a transfer. well, that is for the worst case scenario. I am no longer a kid who wants everything my way, I have to adjust and adapt to new environment, I can't always have everything my way. I will have to be on my guard when I am in the new environment. Be observant is the key to having the best protection for myself.

Anyway, I bought myself a new i mac with the new Mac Leopard OS. Woo Hoo!! its really cool and it has a lot features that i would never thought of. The Front Row function is really very cool and you can use a remote control to watch DVD, MVs, even movie trailers from the internet. Initially, I really had problems adjusting to using Mac. I am the windows kinda person. But I am ok with the OS now. Its really very very cool. hehe

Current mood: good

Current music: All American Girl - Carrie Underwood

1:17AM

What City Should You Live In?
	You should live in Rome. You avoid conflict and take life a little slower than most. Rome's sun, culture, food, and siestas are a perfect match for your easy-going attitude.
Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com

Current mood: content

Current music: Emotions - Mariah Carey

1:08AM

Life now in NIE is SOOOOO good. How I wish it will remain like this forever!!!
muahahahaha

Current mood: bouncy

Current music: Killa - JJ

1:35AM - End of Practicum

Damned! This is the seond time I am writing this entry. The previous one was cleared when I accidentally clicked on the back button!!

Well, I ended my ten-week Teaching Practice in TPSS. The time travelled in TPSS is like the speed of a bullet train, swift and steady. What I wanna say is that I really had wonderful times at TPSS, regardless of whether is it the pleasant working environment with CT, NIE colleagues, TPSS teachers, NIE supervisor, Principal, VPs or the lessons with my students.

I had mixed feelings during the last day of my Practicum which incidentally is the day for the celebrations for Teachers' Day. 1N1, 1N2 and 3E1, you guys rock and I will never forget the times we had in the classrooms and laboratories. You guys made me feel angry, down, happy and touched. Your simple gestures and words made me felt appreciated. I really hope that I can have the chance to teach you guys again.

My main CT, Kah Kin, has also been extremely nice to me and he is generous in sharing his experience, knowledge and teaching resources with me. At times, we also have small talk regarding work and frustrations we had in teaching and human relationships in the staff room. To me, he is an elder brother and mentor. I will definitely keep in contact with him even after Practicum. My other CT, Gary is also nice to me and he shares some of the REAL teaching experience when he became a full-fledged teacher years ago. He told me, we as teachers should lower our expectations of the students so that we will not feel discouraged while teaching. My HOD science, Victor, is also very helpful and spends his time telling some of the adminstration stuff that I should take note of. Thanks, Victor!   

Here are some pics that I had in TPSS

My 3E1


Its a pity that I did not have time to take a proper class picture with 1N1 and 1N2 because I had only 4 weeks with each of them, so I really had no time to take pictures with them. =(




Some gifts I received .                                                A cute portrait of me by Jane.


This letter by Jessica really touched me when she wrote: " You made a difference in my life. " With that, my efforts in TPSS have not gone wasted!.

Current mood: touched

Current music: So Small - Carrie Underwood

8:55PM - Coming to an end soon...

It has been a whirlwind 8 weeks at Tampines Secondary School. My ten lesson observations are ALMOST done. Quite busy lately to update my blog. Will update soon when I finished my Practicum... =)

Current mood: cheerful

Current music: Dear Tank - Tank

9:10PM - Practicum 2nd Day

Reflections

Was dropped a bomb this morning; we were told to relieve duties for teachers on MC. Man, I wasn't even prepared for that especially that my lessons were the first 2 periods of the day. Well, it is my first time doing relief teaching. I was given 2 Normal Acad classes , 1 Sec 4 and 1 Sec 2. I was a bit apprehensive initially because I did not know what to let them do during the lesson. Surprisingly, they didn't give me a lot of trouble at all, so i left them to do their own work. Well, it was an okay experience for a first-time relief teaching.

Met up with my Cooperating Teacher(s) today, Mr Lai and Mr Gary. Both of them are young teachers who looked very friendly. Mr Lai is my primary CT in charge of guiding me in the teaching of Chemistry. He taught me a lot stuff regarding teaching and also how to obtain and share teaching resources with fellow colleagues. I was fortunate to be assigned to him because he is very understanding and accomodating to me. He even shared with me the materials he had while he was at NIE. I can really sense that he is a dedicated teacher who is ready to help all his students. He gave me his best class so that I will not have a hard time dealing with class management. He even commented to the HOD that he will not want to give me his Normal Tech students because it will not be fair to me. 

I went into his class 3E1 whom he taught Pure Chemistry for lesson observation. 3E1 is the best Sec 3 Express class in the whole class and the students are all taking Triple Pure Sciences. 3E1 is also Mr. Lai's form class. He had established strong rapport with the students and they all treat him with a lot of respect. There are still some students who are cheeky and naughty but that is nothing compared to the students in other classes. I realised Mr. Lai's classroom management and time management skills are good and he is able to engage most of the students during the lesson. Many students also responded to his questions promptly. He started the class by issuing the class with their files and write down on the board on what they are supposed to write in the content page. This is to ensure  that the students' files are organised and they can refer to their worksheets and assignments easily. While explaining questions from Mole Concept, he wants the the students to write down the steps systematically and the statements must be written properly. This is especially important when it comes to the exams. He plans the lesson in such a way that he ended the lesson 3 to 5 minutes before the bell so that he can give instructions about the next lesson and also collecting back all the files. He also shared with me who the problematic kids are and also the good students. He also highlighted to me about this Malay boy who needs to be supervised and his homework needs to be updated in his handbook such that his father can check his work. He tells me not to give him any leeway and make sure that he does his work dilligently.

As for Mr Sng, I met him briefly and we only talked about our timetable. He looked quiet and reserved but my former classmate (Thomas) told me that he is quite a nice guy. Well, tomoro is my lesson observation with him. Hope that everything will run smoothly.

Overall, I was only given 13 teaching periods which is considered very little as compared to many of my peers. Mr Lai n Mr Sng say that they do not want me to overload me with more lessons such that I will have more time to do my lesson plans. They are really very nice and genuine people. Really starting to feel comfortable in the school.

Current mood: content

Current music: Tank - 城里的月光

6:40PM - First Day at Tampines Secondary...

Reflection on the first day of Practicum

Today is the first day of my Practicum Teaching Practice at Tampines Secondary School. I was pretty excited the night before and I did not really sleep well yesterday night.
There are 8 NIE trainees from different programmes in NIE  and there will be another 4 new trainees joining us next week. God, I wonder why MOE is still showing the ad for recruiting new teachers and the Ministry is constantly lamenting the lack of teachers. We (the NIE trainees) had nothing to do during the first day and we were basically slacking in the temporary staff room for the NIE trainees which is the printing room of the school. We met quite a number of teachers in the school, from the Senior Teacher to the VP, from the P to the school counsellor, from the HODs to some of the fellow teachers. 
It is fortunate for us as one of the Practicum teachers, Vernice, used to be a contract teacher in the school. Therefore, she acted like our OGL, carried out an informal induction and introduction to the school. We made our own walkabout in the school. The school compound is quite old and we were told that the current building will be torn down at the end of this year and the school will be shifted to a temporary holding school at Bedok.
The Principal , Mr Neo, talked to us for a few times today, he told us a lot about the school, her history and the students. Through the conversation, I learnt a lot from him. I think he is a very good Principal who genuinely cares for his students. At the end of the school, he was standing near the gate of the school, observing the students as they exit the school. He talks to some of them and introduces some of them to us. As the students walked pass him, he will tell us what their names are and what kind of character traits they have. This truly impressed me as he is able to identify most of the students by their names and also know their character well. He told us who the naughty ones are and the probable reason to their mischevious nature. Most of them come from broken families or not-well-to-do families or have fathers in prison and so on... He told us the best way to keep them away from trouble is to keep them in school and to keep them in school, it is important to build strong rapport with them. 
Besides that, the school is designated as one of the schools from including students with special needs. They have autistic students as well as students with dyslexia. Mr Neo introduces Natalie, an autistic girl, to us and she appeared to be a reserved but polite individual. Mr Neo also highlighted a case of an autistic boy transferred from Ngee Ann Sec. He transferred to Tampines Sec because he was bullied in Ngee Ann. According to Mr Neo, he is now doing well in Tampines Sec and he had a number of good frens in the school too. I really feel happy for this boy.
At the end of the day, there was a departmental meeting and we were introduced to the rest of the teachers in the department. The departmental meeting focused on the analysis of the school's performance based on the Mid Year Exams results. The teachers were grouped into the respective subjects and discussed the ways and suggestions to help students improve academically. My day at Tampines Sec ended after the meeting..

Current mood: excited

Current music: S.H.E. - 中国话

9:28PM - Back From Bangkok...

Was back from Bangkok 2 days ago. A fun and enjoyable trip. Initially, my intention is to go there and have a relaxed trip, I ended up walking and shopping for 4 days. Bought some shirts, pants and jeans. The bad thing was the weather, it was extremely hot in bangkok, i was sweating like an animal, haha...

Feeling lazy for the past 2 days. Suddenly feel so lost when there are no more assignments. Will be posted to Tampines Secondary School for my practicum. 

What was funny is that I will be teaching Chemistry and Lower Sec Physics, I wonder if I had failed my Physics Upgrading Course, haha...

Current mood: cranky

Current music: You Give Love A Bad Name - Blake Lewis

1:13AM - Bonus!! Yay !! (*o*)

The long-awaited bonus is here! not that much , 1/2 month but better than nothing.

booked bkk trip in June. not a really good deal, but its ok because its a trip with my new NIE mates. 

Still as busy as ever, scrambling to finish all my assignments.... 

Carrie Underwood is amazingly pretty when she was singing I'll Stand By You on Idol Gives Back... Downloaded her MTV from iTunes. Her album is still in Billboard Top Ten after an incredible 77 week reign! She broke the 6 million mark this week. Well, I think Simon Cow can well become a prophet after his stint as the American Idol judge.

10:12PM - It's been a while...

Wah, really long long time neva update my blog le.

Really very busy with work lately. Bogged down by a lot of assignments in NIE. Endless assignments!! So much so dat i have already lost track of time. sigh. Well, even in NUS, i think there wasn't SO MUCH assignments. Tired... 

Well, I will update in my blog about my time in NIE after my assignment deadlines dued in late May... Well, meantime, i gotta Gambatte...=)

Current mood: busy

Current music: Katharine Mcphee - Over it

10:38PM - NIE

Today is my second day at NIE. It was really torturing at wake up at 6 am and travel all the way to boon lay mrt. The feeder service into NIE also need to take half an hour. Goodness! NIE is really like foreign land to me, literally and physically. I am not really an extrovert who will initiate a conversation with people I dun noe well. Many of the trainees came with their frens and some of my frens i noe were already with their frens so i din really sit with them. It was really pathetic to sit alone, but well, i guess things will get better when the team bonding activities and modules start.

Just checked my timetable, it is not as bad as I have expected. I guess the Jan intake have a more relaxed timetable due to the absence of the school experience programme. I even have a free day on Tuesday, muahahaha. On the flip side, my lessons on Fri ends at 7.30pm, which means that I will reach home onli at prob about 9.30pm. Fortunately , it is on Fri and there are no lessons on Sat . Late lessons on Fri also meant that I can go jalan jalan after my lessons, heehee.  

Tomoro is the third day of the orientation programme, the programme will onli start at 2pm (yay, which means that i can wake up a bit later, heh heh). Seriously, I can wait for the practicum to start , I received many conflicting remarks from frens that actual teaching in schools is really taxing and stressful, i guess i really have to experience it myself to judge whether who is right. I may be at a disadvantage as compared to my peers in the Jan intake because almost all of them have experienced teaching (on a contract basis), but i will try my best to pass my practicum and hopefully be a good teacher. 

Current mood: cheerful

Current music: Jiang Jun Ling-Wu Ke Qun

6:52PM - Back from Taiwan...

Back from my Taiwan trip...

Very fun and exciting but i LOST my HP there, in Hualian's Taroka Gorge... Fortunately , I bought travel insurance and hopefully i can claim the full amount for the cost of my phone. 

Busy to upload details now cos I goin NIE tomoro, will update once I sorted out my pictures .. 

A preview of the pics i took in Taiwan:

The FAMOUS 香鸡扒 in 士林. It tastes way way BETTER than the one in Singapore ...

Current mood: good