pictures with my Lao TWA comrades. it was only when i met them that i realised how much i missed them.

random post. just wanted to share some photos today:


group work which made me feel happy


mood portrait of vick. haha

ego stroking post?

becos i'm going to reproduce how students thanked me on their blogs.

from the succinct wai leong:
Thank you MR HENG K.L

from the analytical alvin:
and finally,
but not the least,
kudos to mr heng,
who stuck with us throughout the
whole process of pw.

juggling our GP grades
while chionging PW wasn't an easy job,
and i'll have to give him credit for that.

from the heartfelt, albeit crude, iry:
It's an awesome A-grade for me. Well, I seriously can't fucking thank you enough! Sorry for the profanity. There's no better way to express myself.

from the (overly?) appreciative amelene:
first and foremost, a huge heartfelt thank you to mr heng.
i think this is the third time thanking him.
yup, thanks for being there with the class and constantly putting in so much effort.
A's and 4 B's. wow.

from the cheeky joon kiat:
fyi: thierry henry is a soccer player.
to work on what i like is great,
to work on what i like and get A is stupendous.
and to mr heng, thanks.
i shant go on and add on to ur alrdy inflated ego,
kidding.

~~~
from the diversity of responses, one can tell that PW has helped to improve my interpersonal and collaborative skills as well. Did I dread, even detest PW at times? Of course. Did I make mistakes? Definitely. But am I a more confident teacher due to PW? Ya. and this personal growth is (to quote iry) awesome.

PW results release

-a parent thanked me for helping her son secure an A

-JK got to know of his results first. Upon knowing his result, he heaved a huge sigh of relief, gave me a hug and thanked me. poor boy, he really thought that he would be getting a C all this while.

"How did Alvin do?"
"Did the class do well?"

Beneath his crass exterior, he is actually a big-hearted person.

-Had fun teasing iry and alvin by taunting them with "you mean you haven't entertained the possibility that student X might do better than you?". haha

-2 students who got Bs thanked me also. now, that's the kind of student i am proud of.

-thanks, amelene, for the profuse thanks. always nice to be appreciated.

-will end this off with a really sweet tribute by wai leong on his blog:

I'll make this post short and simple.
Thank you MR HENG K.L
and i must say i had fun as i was blessed to have a team of wonderful projectgroup buddies.

They brought me both worries and laughter throughout the project. Nevertheless, i will never forget the great times we stuck through thick and thin, from dawn till dusk. All the best in your future endeavors guys.
(http://www.barneylovesme.blogspot.com)<--see, i know how to do my citations!

Okay, i am feeling quite irritated now. definitely one of those days in which i question my decision to teach. i could have done other things with my life! why deliberately confine myself to such a sheltered environment when I had wanted to venture out into the world outside? bleah.

****
I: Hey, I didn't know that Student A was so smart.

Mrs Teo: Ya, he is veeeeery smart. Like you, lar. Likes to challenge the system also.

Mrs Teo, I am enormously flattered. haha

some of my students were so relieved that they passed their block test essay. it's like, huge sighs of relief. i wouldn't have given such a big reaction if i were to score 27/28 for my essay. i mean, it wouldn't have done wonders to my self-esteem, i'm sure. ai yoh. it kinda made my heart stir a little. the fact remains that we Singaporeans derive our self-worth based on tangibles like our results and helping students to excel does build up their confidence.

getting students to brainstorm of ideas helps me to understand how they think (and why they get such low-level ideas). it was such a fun lesson with 229 last friday when they presented their ideas and their peers could promptly tell on the spot whether they were making sense.

i have come to think that the mark of a good teacher is to teach effectively, with minimal resources and without the use of technological gimmicks. haha.

i felt bad for the lesson with 218 yesterday. it didn't exactly backfire but their attention was diffused during the 2nd hour. so, i made a professional judgement (wa, sounds so guru-ish) and got them to gather around me as i dissected the environment question. i guess it's a sign of how i have mellowed down (or returned to my easy-going self. heh.) as i didn't beat myself too much over it. well, i hope today's lesson in which we all sat around in a circle and dissected the essay outlines was more fruitful. haha.

so, how do i keep students engaged for a 1.5/2 hr lesson? mr heng must think and evaluate.

in any case, to the 218 peeps who may be lurking, you have potential and i have faith. :)

oh another thing. i have been bugging this fellow to organise his notes (he just chucks all his notes into his bag. my goodness.) and today, i saw his GP notes bound neatly via a ring binder. ya, i am very amused. haha