可怕的学生是否就是幼小心灵对制度的呐喊与反抗？
排名，考试，文凭，功名利润……社会对成功的定义是先考得好成绩，然后才踏出下一步。
有一张像样的文凭，平步青云便不是难如登天。但是却有人说，把孩子变成书呆子，那么到了商场打拼也只是送羊入虎口而已。所以我们的学生在争取顶尖的考试成绩以外，还必须在课外活动熬出一个春天来。
于是时间似乎变得奇快无比，每天似乎都有做不完的事物，而之前的"钱不够用"逐渐转变成"时不够花"。
面对沉重生活压力的孩子于是纷纷采取了斗争，大人们就说他们目无尊长，都是一些不合群的失败品。
但试问，我们大人有曾经问问他们："你的童年是否快乐？"
29 September 2006
Why Students Don't Do Well
Was chatting with some of the teachers in the staff room when the topic of students working hard for their studies came springing up again... u know, the usual... why are students irresponsible and so on. .. compare to last time how come so different..
Then it occurred to me: could it be due to the more and more competitive society nowadays? People has less time and thus parents become more inadequate, children sensed that parents are always not around and begin to think that they are not important at all.. thus they do not work hard, thinking no meaning out of all these.. .and thus u have "bad" students!
haha just a theory.. just a thought.. nothing is confirmed... i am just making my own hypothesis :p
Then it occurred to me: could it be due to the more and more competitive society nowadays? People has less time and thus parents become more inadequate, children sensed that parents are always not around and begin to think that they are not important at all.. thus they do not work hard, thinking no meaning out of all these.. .and thus u have "bad" students!
haha just a theory.. just a thought.. nothing is confirmed... i am just making my own hypothesis :p
Struggle
We hope to see the unit improving as from the end of the exams and onwards... it was a tough time of adapting to the 5 day work week but i think we are gradually getting used to it.
Its been trying and it will carry on to be.
School has been a mad rush, and everyone seems to be losing grips on themselves. Today Mr Kwok says the chick has to struggle out of the egg shell itself in order to survive. Yet we all seem to feel that many students are still inside their egg; did they still not realise? Or are they just simply refusing to excel?
Its been trying and it will carry on to be.
School has been a mad rush, and everyone seems to be losing grips on themselves. Today Mr Kwok says the chick has to struggle out of the egg shell itself in order to survive. Yet we all seem to feel that many students are still inside their egg; did they still not realise? Or are they just simply refusing to excel?
23 September 2006
Being a CI
If you ask me what is the one thing that will ensure that our unit becomes strong as it was again. The only answer would be time and commitment from the people who are leading it.
Many a time we overlook the most important thing: spending time with the people of whom we teach.
We care about skills and standards and we spend a lot of time on structure and know-how. But at the end of the day, it is the very spirit that counts.
Do not come back as a CI with the only thought as to pass down your skills but rather to ensure that the very spirit of what is human and love of being in the unit is ever continued.
Love your cadets, tell them the meaning of love and with that all other things will flow.
Many a time we overlook the most important thing: spending time with the people of whom we teach.
We care about skills and standards and we spend a lot of time on structure and know-how. But at the end of the day, it is the very spirit that counts.
Do not come back as a CI with the only thought as to pass down your skills but rather to ensure that the very spirit of what is human and love of being in the unit is ever continued.
Love your cadets, tell them the meaning of love and with that all other things will flow.
Info for the 71st Batch CI Course!
"71ST BATCH NPCC CADET INSPECTORS' BASIC TRAINING COURSE
I am pleased to inform you that NPCC HQ is organising the above-mentioned course. The details of the course is as follows:
Course: 71st Batch Cadet Inspectors' Basic Training Course (Residential)
Duration: Friday 08 December 2006 - Saturday 23 December 2006 (including a 4-Day-3-Night ATC at Pulau Ubin) "
haha and thinking back i think i was from the 49th batch... old already :p
I am pleased to inform you that NPCC HQ is organising the above-mentioned course. The details of the course is as follows:
Course: 71st Batch Cadet Inspectors' Basic Training Course (Residential)
Duration: Friday 08 December 2006 - Saturday 23 December 2006 (including a 4-Day-3-Night ATC at Pulau Ubin) "
haha and thinking back i think i was from the 49th batch... old already :p
21 September 2006
3G Rocks
This is my very treasured piece of Teacher's Day gift from my beloved class! haha i know very 肉麻 but bear with me la.. haha!
Another part of my personal life shared? :p
Another part of my personal life shared? :p
20 September 2006
Mission Impossible
Today yet again another brush with some of the infinite problems that we have to face everyday.
There are people who insist that interest should be the top of the agenda when we are talking about character building and the teaching of values. What interest should we talk about when there is even no responsibility in the first place?
But then environment and culture does play a very important part in the shaping of hearts and minds, and it is the very thing that we hope to be instilling in the students' minds.
Having the heart to do things is just not enough.
It's the shaping of the environment.
It's tough.
It's requiring more than just the effort of 1 or 2 persons.
It takes identification of the same goals.
It takes an awful long amount of time.
But it is possible.
There are people who insist that interest should be the top of the agenda when we are talking about character building and the teaching of values. What interest should we talk about when there is even no responsibility in the first place?
But then environment and culture does play a very important part in the shaping of hearts and minds, and it is the very thing that we hope to be instilling in the students' minds.
Having the heart to do things is just not enough.
It's the shaping of the environment.
It's tough.
It's requiring more than just the effort of 1 or 2 persons.
It takes identification of the same goals.
It takes an awful long amount of time.
But it is possible.
19 September 2006
A Challenge to Ourselves
During activity today i wanted to bring the remaining sec 3s out for a run. 15 were gathered and the last i looked back, there were only 5 who came back to the finishing point.
Then reality seems to ask me: is the unit as good as it should be? What are we producing in the calibre of our cadets?
Are they determined?
Can they take hardships?
I took a piece of paper and i gave it to the squad nco and told him: this is our target before the year of 2006 is over -- complete the PE running route as a squad.
Can we do it?
Then reality seems to ask me: is the unit as good as it should be? What are we producing in the calibre of our cadets?
Are they determined?
Can they take hardships?
I took a piece of paper and i gave it to the squad nco and told him: this is our target before the year of 2006 is over -- complete the PE running route as a squad.
Can we do it?
17 September 2006
RunForHope 06
This is the finishing point after the long and wet 9km run! Shiok! oh ya.. .forgot to mention that there were a lot of people who joined the run.. hundreds... maybe even thousands! ... then after that MQ and I were discussing if we should join the full marathon.. . but then shall have to train if we do sign up! maybe run around the school or something... anyone up for grabs for the full marathon? :p
RunForHope - Terry Fox Run 2006
Haha this is the rainy Terry Fox Run. Could not take much of the scenery during the run as it was raining cats and dogs! Quite heavy so i had to deposit everything at the counter and start running 9km with my colleague cum good friend! Was quite a good run, and the feeling was great. Then after the run had to tremble in the cold cold wind... reminds me of the time when i went waterfall trekking with my Uni days OG.. haha... Now thinking of Standard Chartered Marathon... haha... 蠢蠢欲动！
16 September 2006
Teachers and Students
Can't believe i slept my saturday away! haha
auntie came and asked me," today is saturday leh, how come you not park-tawing? How come your cousin is at home too?"
Haha i seriously don't know.
Must have over-exerted yesterday. And failed to plan for saturday. And talked too much with friends over school yesterday.
And much more work to be completed.
Yes, teachers have their woes too. Students just feel that teachers come to school and teach and give homework.
And torture them.
Or suck at teaching.
But i feel every accomplishment of the teachers is the sacrifice of his or her personal life. So don't blame a teacher who is not caring, or not caring enough. Because most of the time, pardon me for being overly blunt, many students do not appreciate. (not all, some of you guys are great!)
It's always a gamble if the teacher is willing to sacrifice, and sometimes demoralizing when students do not reciprocate.
Give them a sign sometimes will ya?
auntie came and asked me," today is saturday leh, how come you not park-tawing? How come your cousin is at home too?"
Haha i seriously don't know.
Must have over-exerted yesterday. And failed to plan for saturday. And talked too much with friends over school yesterday.
And much more work to be completed.
Yes, teachers have their woes too. Students just feel that teachers come to school and teach and give homework.
And torture them.
Or suck at teaching.
But i feel every accomplishment of the teachers is the sacrifice of his or her personal life. So don't blame a teacher who is not caring, or not caring enough. Because most of the time, pardon me for being overly blunt, many students do not appreciate. (not all, some of you guys are great!)
It's always a gamble if the teacher is willing to sacrifice, and sometimes demoralizing when students do not reciprocate.
Give them a sign sometimes will ya?
The Intricate Balance
A very long day today, with fumbling with the reports slips and the lessons going on at the same time yet having also the Parent-Teacher Meeting session.
I had to run around the office talking to teachers for the PTM and also to understand more from them and how i can help better as a form teacher.. knowing their backgrounds and so on.
So practically i felt that there wasn't even much time to breathe the entire day. There was this sense of dread and stress, that it would not be possible to capture the relevant data and stuff...
1110 spelt the end of lessons and i had to go down to the canteen to meet Yoshi, as he had purposefully came down to school to visit me -- i mean i have grown to appreciate the fact that it takes a lot on the students to come down and visit an ex teacher, and thus i should make every effort to at least talk to him. But alas there wasn't enough time... felt a little apologetic though... but then bell rang before i could finish lunch (morever the elders always like to say 吃饭皇帝大！), so in the end i had to finish lunch whilst talking ...
Met a lot of parents and in midst of all those talking, its seems to me that society nowadays is so stressful and busy that parents often do not have enough time or the chance to do qualitative things with their children. Sometimes a child who does not do well may have some kind of communicative problems with his parents? Or if a child does not do well, is it because he is not in sync enough with his parents' desires for him to do well? What part does the environment play for this same child to want to do well for his studies or when we come down to things at its rawest form, there is something lacking which is causing results that do not meet expectations?
The session really bring me many thoughts each time .. .not to mention the length of it. When i ended at around 5 plus, i realised my entire level was already bare, with the auntie staring me with seemingly grudging eyes as usual.
And then went down and found out that CCA was still on! Thus began another part of my work (sometimes wonder how much a teacher can do when he is faced with so many things and yet have to be at his best every single time -- are we humans?) Saw a bit of some scenes that i wasn't very happy with and decided to do something about it. Sometimes plain talking does not get the point across to the leaders.
Being a leader is more than just standing in front of the juniors and be just looking smart. It takes more than appearance and presentation skills to impress and impart knowledge. If there is no resolve and determination to complete tasks and responsibilities, then it would all come to naught at the end of the day.
Thus i have to try to do something.. sometimes u figure that success and failure does not seem any important at all when you have at least tried to do your part. But however it also means no senseless blind trying. It must be with purpose and meaning and it must be done with such resolve that the idea will go across.
Don't ask me how it can be done as i do not know how to impart such skills, but at the end of it all i guess sincerity and heart is very important and only with the former can then let us achieve what we have set out to do in the 1st place.
To conclude, some article in the papers argued that demand and support must be given in measured proportion; all demand and no support will give rebellious kids but whereas all support and no demand will spoil them.
Balance is the key.
I had to run around the office talking to teachers for the PTM and also to understand more from them and how i can help better as a form teacher.. knowing their backgrounds and so on.
So practically i felt that there wasn't even much time to breathe the entire day. There was this sense of dread and stress, that it would not be possible to capture the relevant data and stuff...
1110 spelt the end of lessons and i had to go down to the canteen to meet Yoshi, as he had purposefully came down to school to visit me -- i mean i have grown to appreciate the fact that it takes a lot on the students to come down and visit an ex teacher, and thus i should make every effort to at least talk to him. But alas there wasn't enough time... felt a little apologetic though... but then bell rang before i could finish lunch (morever the elders always like to say 吃饭皇帝大！), so in the end i had to finish lunch whilst talking ...
Met a lot of parents and in midst of all those talking, its seems to me that society nowadays is so stressful and busy that parents often do not have enough time or the chance to do qualitative things with their children. Sometimes a child who does not do well may have some kind of communicative problems with his parents? Or if a child does not do well, is it because he is not in sync enough with his parents' desires for him to do well? What part does the environment play for this same child to want to do well for his studies or when we come down to things at its rawest form, there is something lacking which is causing results that do not meet expectations?
The session really bring me many thoughts each time .. .not to mention the length of it. When i ended at around 5 plus, i realised my entire level was already bare, with the auntie staring me with seemingly grudging eyes as usual.
And then went down and found out that CCA was still on! Thus began another part of my work (sometimes wonder how much a teacher can do when he is faced with so many things and yet have to be at his best every single time -- are we humans?) Saw a bit of some scenes that i wasn't very happy with and decided to do something about it. Sometimes plain talking does not get the point across to the leaders.
Being a leader is more than just standing in front of the juniors and be just looking smart. It takes more than appearance and presentation skills to impress and impart knowledge. If there is no resolve and determination to complete tasks and responsibilities, then it would all come to naught at the end of the day.
Thus i have to try to do something.. sometimes u figure that success and failure does not seem any important at all when you have at least tried to do your part. But however it also means no senseless blind trying. It must be with purpose and meaning and it must be done with such resolve that the idea will go across.
Don't ask me how it can be done as i do not know how to impart such skills, but at the end of it all i guess sincerity and heart is very important and only with the former can then let us achieve what we have set out to do in the 1st place.
To conclude, some article in the papers argued that demand and support must be given in measured proportion; all demand and no support will give rebellious kids but whereas all support and no demand will spoil them.
Balance is the key.
13 September 2006
Meaning of Health!
OK la i think i still can run a little distance. Now that i am permanently taken off the hook for the national IPPT exams, doing exercise has sorta become something precious to myself.
Thanks to my slipped disc, i guess i grow to appreciate health more than ever.
Was tempted to join a friend in the Standard Chartered Marathon though i know i cannot. So shall be just contented to my 5km runs instead.
Do jio me for a run at school sometime ya? (but run very slow la... have to take care not to cause further injury mah) :p
Thanks to my slipped disc, i guess i grow to appreciate health more than ever.
Was tempted to join a friend in the Standard Chartered Marathon though i know i cannot. So shall be just contented to my 5km runs instead.
Do jio me for a run at school sometime ya? (but run very slow la... have to take care not to cause further injury mah) :p
12 September 2006
Terry Fox Run
Oh ya i was told to share more of my private life! Haha okie will be trying to go to the Terry Fox run this sunday morning with MQ and do our bit for charity, and maybe to taste the 9km sun and sand route too!
MQ says he has not been running and also not such a long distance and as for me, hope the back of mine can be accomodating enough :p
So now happy of personal life sharing?
Haha actually is no personal life so how to share? LOL
yaya i know... get a life! haha...
MQ says he has not been running and also not such a long distance and as for me, hope the back of mine can be accomodating enough :p
So now happy of personal life sharing?
Haha actually is no personal life so how to share? LOL
yaya i know... get a life! haha...
Love Our Unit
Today i asked the sec 3s if they dare to rate their own lesson plans, on giving effective instructions when it comes to teaching.
Nobody said a word.
Some part of me says "this is bad" when this kind of silence takes place. We learn obedience. We learn respect. But it also means that we lose creativity and the passion to excel.
That was something i wanted to inculcate in the people just now. There was an absence of passion, of that zeal to exceed and excel, of creating and in total control of a session of learning that would seemed out of the world in experience. Of joy and fun when learning takes place, of that desire to invent and discover.
Are we losing the touch of passion? Systems overly controlled?
We complain when the environment becomes too comfortable for growth and we gain much inertia when it comes to change. But sometimes it only takes that moment of resolve to overcome the odds.
They say a single spark can light up an entire plain, so awaiting is what i will do to see that new spark rise!
I am hopeful!
Nobody said a word.
Some part of me says "this is bad" when this kind of silence takes place. We learn obedience. We learn respect. But it also means that we lose creativity and the passion to excel.
That was something i wanted to inculcate in the people just now. There was an absence of passion, of that zeal to exceed and excel, of creating and in total control of a session of learning that would seemed out of the world in experience. Of joy and fun when learning takes place, of that desire to invent and discover.
Are we losing the touch of passion? Systems overly controlled?
We complain when the environment becomes too comfortable for growth and we gain much inertia when it comes to change. But sometimes it only takes that moment of resolve to overcome the odds.
They say a single spark can light up an entire plain, so awaiting is what i will do to see that new spark rise!
I am hopeful!
06 September 2006
钱
谈钱伤感情。
为什么如此？其实我想不是钱的问题。
也许因为钱可以决定我们的生死，所以钱已不再是钱那么简单了。如果钱就那么容易下定义，为什么常有为了钱而手足相残的悲剧？
怎会有争家产的新闻？六亲不认？
那就是社会。
为什么如此？其实我想不是钱的问题。
也许因为钱可以决定我们的生死，所以钱已不再是钱那么简单了。如果钱就那么容易下定义，为什么常有为了钱而手足相残的悲剧？
怎会有争家产的新闻？六亲不认？
那就是社会。
Chung Cheng
这就是中正总校的湖景。
很漂亮是吧？难以想像一间校园竟有如此景致？
不禁让人深省，学校应该是怎么样的一个地方 －－ 排名？奖状？考试？
热忱？知识？学习做人？
那以后的学校是否也该注重建筑特色？
很漂亮是吧？难以想像一间校园竟有如此景致？
不禁让人深省，学校应该是怎么样的一个地方 －－ 排名？奖状？考试？
热忱？知识？学习做人？
那以后的学校是否也该注重建筑特色？
05 September 2006
03 September 2006
假期感言
明天将又是一个繁忙的一天。
早晨须要到中正总校上课，然后晚间与朋友吃饭。一位教师朋友向我投诉，说自己的假期几乎全部用在补课与课外活动上。他羡慕地对我说：‘你真幸福！’但其实我又何尝不想利用一些时间帮助学生把功课做得更好呢？
可惜的是现在的人都不重视华文。今天报章说道华文老师应该做汉语的监护人，可是却没有多少本地人愿意肩负这样的使命。
我想不是不愿意，只是现在的环境允许我们这样做吗？政策是否对我们有利？在这样的环境下打拼，是不是逆水行舟？
也许我是身在福中不知福，有假期却还在这里埋怨自己无法看到的愿景 :)
早晨须要到中正总校上课，然后晚间与朋友吃饭。一位教师朋友向我投诉，说自己的假期几乎全部用在补课与课外活动上。他羡慕地对我说：‘你真幸福！’但其实我又何尝不想利用一些时间帮助学生把功课做得更好呢？
可惜的是现在的人都不重视华文。今天报章说道华文老师应该做汉语的监护人，可是却没有多少本地人愿意肩负这样的使命。
我想不是不愿意，只是现在的环境允许我们这样做吗？政策是否对我们有利？在这样的环境下打拼，是不是逆水行舟？
也许我是身在福中不知福，有假期却还在这里埋怨自己无法看到的愿景 :)
许许多多的祝福
教师节前夕收到了好些同学的祝福与礼物。今天竟然有好多毕了业的同学回来探望……感觉非常的窝心。
与大家谈了不少的话，谈梦想、谈期盼、谈在初级学院的生活……时光真是如光箭般快速地闪过。才一转眼，大家都已是毕业了的学生。
今年的级任班也特别有心，竟然出乎意料地为老师准备了许多的零食与礼物。但，最喜欢的还是他们亲笔写的祝语 －－ 看了真是会让人欣喜若狂！
谁说男生就不会表达谢意呢？
与大家谈了不少的话，谈梦想、谈期盼、谈在初级学院的生活……时光真是如光箭般快速地闪过。才一转眼，大家都已是毕业了的学生。
今年的级任班也特别有心，竟然出乎意料地为老师准备了许多的零食与礼物。但，最喜欢的还是他们亲笔写的祝语 －－ 看了真是会让人欣喜若狂！
谁说男生就不会表达谢意呢？
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