As my MSN nick:
I refuse to do any work tonight.

of course, i have tons to mark. 60 comprehensions + 60 essays to mark in the March holidays, among other responsibilities. But I feel free and defiant. So there, work!

I think Singaporeans are so used to working 24/7 because they base their self-esteem in terms of the work they get done and don't cultivate many hobbies. Hence, they consume themselves with work so as to fill up this void.

Tomorrow, i will chiong:
--Guide to question interpretation
--Common grammatical pitfalls
--Science handouts
--Environment handouts
--Mindmaps
--Global politics comprehension
(Not bad sia. I also know how to redeem my existance with work, work, work. heh)

~~~~~~~

i just borrowed this book, "how teaching can inspire real learning in the classroom" and got "tuned in and fired up" just by looking at the foreword. it's nice to know that 1.5 yrs into the service, i am not too cynical (yet) to forget that i want to evoke passion from my students. to be more empathetic about the world around them.

anyway, this got me thinking about the lessons that left an impact on me, the educator:

the chemistry lesson in which i got the class to do 50 T/F O level content-based questions within half an hour
the AQ lessons with CTG 125, in which i forced them to write their AQ responses at the last period of the day
the Life Journey sessions with CTG 103 and CTG 134, which allowed me to see how brave and wise and funny and insightful my kiddos are
the Irony lesson with CTG 229, which yielded so much fun for everyone present

this week, i got the class to do essay question analysis and guided them to interpret the questions correctly.

it wasn't fun-fun hyper-fun. But it was a measured kind of fun. it's nice that people are compelled to clarify their doubts, challenge me and give suggestions. i am not sure if they have learnt a lot from that lesson but i stepped out of the classroom, confident that they have learnt something. and it's a good feeling to have.