Life is a journey

"Twinkle twinkle" and 4 weeks juz passed and my ESE chapter ended off on a high with the following acknowledgements and appreciation i must mention here..:)

VS PE Dept ~ U guys know it, u are a cool bunch! ha..not frozen lar..u r cool! (ha…only we will know this joke that we enjoyed together at the pantry..ha) On a serious note, I saw your dedication and passion in upholding VS’ standard in sports and constantly breaking new ground with the introduction of PE Theory next yr. Really appreciate the farewell lunch that we had…ha so paiseh, wanted to bring u guys for lunch but u are faster..haha. Keep up the gd work and maybe we will have the chance to work together again

Teachers in VS ~ U have made my ESE journey an even more enjoyable one..Mr Khoo, even though you have been teaching for so long, i can still see the fire and passion in your eyes when u are giving me advices and little pointers here and there. Ur invaluable advices were greatly appreciated. Soon yi, our short partnership during VC was also a fun one. Obviously, our class was a v playful one but i admire ur energy and effort in trying to keep pace with the class.

Trainee teachers ~ Being on the same boat ride, i appreciate the little stories tat we shared during our lunch breaks at the canteen or at the pantry. Knowing tat the journey is nvr gonna be a smooth ride really comforts newbie like me as we can better prepare outselves for the future storm tat might come along. Look forward to seeing u guys when our boats crosspath again

Students ~ without u, the puzzle will nvr be complete. without u, there will be no meaning in what we are doing… BUT that does not mean u have to make our life so difficult rt?!?…LOL..VS boys, u have given me the first taste of teaching life..and guess i might have given u the first taste of Army style of command..LOL. It was an enjoyable experience and i have learned alot from u boys too

Next…NIE here I come!

Are feelings of jealousy and possessiveness controlled by the mind or heart or body?

Is the volume of jealousy and possessiveness correlated to one’s age/maturity or one’s negative experiences or one’s inherent insecurity or other party’s action or…?

Is jealousy and possessiveness stored in a compartment manned by voluntary or involuntary or conscious or subconscious or unconscious muscles/organs?

Is jealousy and possessiveness triggered by one’s imagination or other party’s action or…?

Can jealousy and possessiveness be surgically removed?

Can jealousy and possessiveness be diluted with solution?

Is jealousy and possessiveness infectious or a disease?

Is jealousy and possessiveness a virtue or a flaw?

Is jealousy and possessiveness logically, reasonably, arguably, understandably, seemingly, possibility be a positive or negative reaction of the other party’s action?

The dark powers of jealousy and possessiveness can never be undermine, with the slightest provoke or ruffle; jealousy and possessiveness will summon the darkest and ugliest demons from the deepest dungeons surfacing to pierce through and demolish the human soul and heart, mind and body. What’s remaining is an irreversible state of battered char body, abused mind and a soul full of regret, full of tears….

Hence will the master of the key to the dungeon be able to hold the fort and prevent the next catastrophe from rising to wreck havoc?

Guess first thing, the master must know she is the master right?! ha..

Me aint no smart aleck or wizard…and i did not master any secret skills or techniques on how to manage kids and teach at the same time. And with my limited exposure in the teaching line, when can i really start to appreciate the art of teaching, i wonder..ha

Nevertheless, i am here to share more of the science portion of teaching..the "disciplining part of teaching". It must have been ages that i communicate with Sec sch kids i must say…maybe the last time was when i was a sec sch kid myself! Never in my memory did i recall i was so mischievous and playful in the past…haha..i know i have poor memory And the requirement to juggle teaching and classroom management should be one of the biggest challenge in most teachers’ mind i tink..

The fortunate part of me is i do not have much teaching to do so i can focus more on the classroom management part. For PE lessons, i supposed due to my background, things are flowing very smoothly and enjoyably. Couple with a bunch of friendly, easy going, jovial colleagues..i nearly forgot that i will be leaving them soon..ha

On the other hand, lessons in the classrooms are not as easily managed and events are seldom flowing smoothly. Initially i am juz an observer and i juz take note of the learning points and positive areas tat i can ride on. But when its my turn to be in charge and teach a class, i realise i can be quite stern and strict.i made sure that everyone is silent before i start to give any instructions or anything. After that first class, i started my train of reflection and thoughts..abt if i was too harsh/hard on the students, if i could have used another approach, etc..

As i continue to talk to other teachers and observe, i start to understand other variations of being stern and strict..there is no clear cut best way but there is the need to constantly fine tune and adapt your methodology of teaching to different audiences..its a long journey and everyday is a fresh day to learn new things and teach new things in a new way..:)

Thereafter i went back to the same class again and maybe i am too sensitive but i can sense something positive from the class. There was something different compared to the previous time. The class is less rowdy, some of them are already seated waiting for class to start. The usual pranksters are more modest in their lame jokes and pushing around..On the other hand, i tried to be less harsh and play along with them at times while doing activities..The class ended with the lesson objectives met and i was also able to see some of the students are actually very weak in certain areas. Implication is next time i could spend more time to explain to this group of weaker students..After the class, a alot of qns hover around my mind..was the changed behaviour a result of what i did last week? is it a positive or negative change? Is it because i take them seriously, so they also feel obligated to be serious of their work too? alot of qns…..etc etc…..On reflection, i guess i was quite happy with my progress and certainly looking forward to my other class next week. hope to reap greater and different experience from that class!