3 june 1989
decade-long SACian
tpcian
guitarist
music
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hello
"life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced." - kierkegaard
"three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for." – joseph addison
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I feel damn snappish now. Anyway, some say that for a student to succeed, he/she has to put in 70% of the work while the teacher, 30%. I don't care whether this is true.
But I don't get how a certain teacher can complain to parents abt a class with not a very good reputation, saying that he's already done his 30% so he's not gonna make anymore effort. If this is what NIE preaches to wannabe-teachers, I'm further disillusioned with Singapore's education.
'I've already done my part, am I supposed to do more?' ... uh huh.
I know that we're not the brightest crayons in the box, not the most obedient class, we don't give our teachers a good first impression. However, how can someone form prejudices against his students? Especially when he's supposed to set a good example for students to follow.
Okay, so we're rowdy during practically every lesson. And how did you deal with it? You set rules to control us. Right. 2 examples here. No talking during class - understandable, but you can't expect us to pay rapt attention when we're falling asleep from no talking to friends. Which actually stimulates the brain & keeps us awake. What happened to discussion during class? No eating in class - again, understandable cos it's a school rule. I'll have to say it again though, food stimulates the brain. Food = some sort of carbs or sth = energy. Not even sweets?
If talking & eating goes against the learning process, then I say that KI students are truely screwed. We pass M&M's/biscuits around in class, we engage in active discussion &, get this, WE STILL LEARN. Like, omg. -_- Okay, so maybe a multidisciplinary sub shouldn't be compared with a science-ish subject.
All right then. Let's take physics then. It's very science. I think the no-eating rule is reinforced in physics too. That's fine. But we're allowed to talk, our questions are actually answered by the teacher, the teacher makes (usually underappreciated) efforts to guide us along in our learning. This sounds cheesy, but he goes beyond his call of duty.
Anyway, he does answer questions. Occasionally. And when people just shout it out. Even so, he shouldn't be telling my mum that I DON'T ASK QUESTIONS, dammit.
So, what are the results like? A whole column of red marks for that someone & more or less steadily improving grades for physics. There's nothing more he can do for s33? Somehow, I think that he just gave up on us since (let's give him some credit) week 1.
That someone also told my mum that I don't ask questions during class. I have 3 theories. 1) he had a memory lapse 2) he doesn't know who I am 3) he's just plain ignorant
I think it's all three. Wtheck. Excuse me, mister, I recall clearly that I've attempted to ask questions during class. Hey, note the keyword attempted. Which means that he never acknowledge my hand waving in the air with a frequency of 1Hz. Or even heard me asking for his help. Oh, you know what? I managed to ask a question on wednesday too. Guess he forgot about that. OH WELL.
He's not the sharpest teacher either. Often, we'd spot mistake in the workings written on the whiteboard & errors in the marking of tests. Once, okay. Twice? Whatever. BUT this occurs almost everytime we have a lesson & this isn't excusable even with "humans do make mistakes". Either he's not giving his 100% concentration while teaching or, worst case scenario, can't be bothered with checking & doesn't care if we learnt the wrong solutions (quite an oxymoron). I feel so confident of passing this A level subject.
I've also heard that his previous classes had excellent distinction grades. Ya. Smart class vs not-so-smart class with potential to do well. And the nice stats don't automatically mean that the classes he currently teaches will get those grades too. It's just like SYF, you know. Just because you got a Gold, or even Gold with Honours, 2 years back doesn't mean an equal or more this year. ... what a stupid comparison, but nvm.
I'm sorry, but bitching to my mum about s33 wasn't a clever decision. She got a bad impression of you & really dislikes you now. Too bad. I heard she actually asked you a question.
'What kind of teacher gives up on his students?'
Isn't that right? I wonder what was your response to this.
Ohmygosh. I can get sued for this. =/ I don't think there are any personal insults in this (eg. no jabs at his mannerism, appearance, etc. Just his questionable teaching abilities.) I'm just really pissed. And I don't think I've said anything that warrants for a lawsuit.
You know what, I haven't even said anything about PW oral presentation. His comments were far from reality. And.. yeah. Heck care. I'm just gonna work hard on my own.
Lots of practice, though not as intensive as I thought it would be. The only crazy practice was the one where we had sectionals/combined til 11pm on thursday, hahaha. Seriously tiring. The time just flew by while practicing.
Bonded more with the guitar people during the camp. :) whee! I love the ensemble. We went for a late night supper after dinner on Thursday & talked a lot. Prom, sec school stuff, life, everything. Went back to a dark, dark school. Practice ended at 11 plus, then we went to the courtyard to stargaze. Not many stars could be seen that night, cos it was quite bright. Nonetheless, it was a really relaxing experience. Hahaha. Sufriena & I nearly fell asleep there.
OH. THERE WERE HUGE COCKROACHES! Roar! Damn disgusting can! D:
Slept a lil after 1am. The bloody school shutters open at 5.20am. I thought it was already seven cos it looked quite bright outside. Then I saw my phone. FIVE TWENTY IN THE MORNING. Wtheck la. -__- stoopid shitty thing.
Oh, in my opinion, the exchange program wasn't that much use in terms of learning techniques, etc. Most of the things discussed were quite common sense & we didn't interact much with the other schools either, which kinda defeats the purpose of an exchange program.
I saw Carys though! :D haha. 3 ex-SAC guitar girls at the exchange that day; me, Kaiwen & Carys. Woo. I like En La Playa (the new song the music leaders got), it wasn't a very difficult piece & it had a nice tune. I sort of miss playing spanish pieces, they're more fun I think.
Overall.. I think we're slightly more prepared for SYF, which is in abt 5 weeks. Quite a few more improvements to be made but nothing impossible. :D
But you know what? There were no cute guys at all during the exchange. Sigh. Not even from AC. No eye candy at all. Hahaha. A few of us were scanning the crowd & went, "no eye candy leh." hahaha. Damn stoned.
