Lazy sunday

Woke up really late just now, past 1pm, and I have been feeling like crap now. Sleeping too much makes your muscles sore and limbs tired; I should have set the alarm, but I didn't expect myself to sleep for so long past my usual waking hours.

Trying to mark a report writing test now, with terrible language errors every other script that I come across, doesn't exactly make things better.

This is the only year when I didn't look forward expectantly to the arrival of the mooncake festival, for the chance to gobble down those sweet cakes all month long. They don't make it like they used to. Mooncakes now have anorexic layers of the fragrant baked crusts, and are only choked full of the sickly sweet paste.

My favourite yam paste crispy skin mooncake with yolks is hardly found anywhere, and the only one that I tried was too sweet, with the paste the same texture as those white lotus etc paste and not of the rough grainy texture that it should have. Disappointing. Anyone have any good recommendations of good 'traditional' mooncakes to share, before the season ends?

I am still yearning...

...for a Feathercraft Khatsalano. Perhaps I can only do kayak touring twice a year at best if I ever own one, but still, it gives me the chance to dream of daring explorations.

Roland once messaged me after watching a screening of "This is the Sea": "Eh, we must buy our own kayaks la. We cannot stop halfway like this." I agree; up till today I still keep that SMS in my phone as a reminder.

Thoughts of a dry brain in a dry season

I just realised that though I love to teach the Sec 1s PE still for next year, I am not cut out to teach a low-ability class for English like what I am doing now. Since I took them, almost everything I planned for them is too difficult for them to handle. Everyday, the first class I used the lesson materials on will give me feedback about the ways in which they find challenging, and I have to help the kids out in the second class. Though they are mostly guilty of intellectual sloth, I do think my work for them is the main reason for its non-completion.

And quietly I am feeling stagnant about everything I do. I used to lead an exciting life. I scoured the internet for challenging reads and expanded the horizons of my literary knowledge then; now I search all around for the easier English work for my classes. I used to plan enrichment activities for myself, and pick up varied skills by myself. Now I only do routine things week in and out.

What is there to move me and inspire me? Holidays are only a rest breaks now and not personal learning journeys like in the past, they can't give me satisfaction, and that's probably why I am so much more nonchalant about them.

I hope I don't take to retail therapy to spice up my life...

The inner life

Just a thought -

• Do people who are more angsty or who stores up more problems within themselves generally considered to have a deeper 'inner life', compared to someone who is more carefree and happy-go-lucky?
• Do introverts tend to be thought of as having a richer 'inner life' compared to extroverts who show their hearts on their sleeves?

It seems strange to me that the term 'inner life' seems to have a slightly positive connotation, to mean that someone has depth of character, when frequently they are applied to introverts or people with emotional problems. As if the happy extroverts out there are all somewhat shallow. Not generalising anything here, just my own perception of some word definitions here.

Not sure why this popped up in my mind too. Anyway, writing about anything else is much preferably than for me to spell out the tedious tasks I do each day.

Another weekend to come and go...

I was called back to school this morning to conduct a remedial class in comprehension, and when I got there, I was told by my HOD that I am to observe a more senior teacher teach first before handling next saturday's session. That other teacher actually wanted me to teach instead because she always had confidence in my language teaching skills, having supervised me for a term. So anyway, I was sitting there for more than an hour in the room, wondering why the hell I need to be there.

The week came and went by in a flash. The last few days, I was so busy attending meetings etc after lessons that there was no time at all to settle down and get down to the 'important' task of planning lessons for next week. Really, providing good lessons is really down at the bottom of the to-do list of most teachers, what with all the silly paperwork one has to cope with. So I must use my weekend to plan something out, and the thought troubles me so much that I feel like skipping my badminton training and not turn up for a wedding dinner that I already promised to attend.

Also, there is much dissonance between the teaching style that NIE/PESS advocates and what school management wants out of PE teachers. I buy into the lecture-correct style of discipline but the school obviously prefer the disciplinarian approach. My VP said that during my lesson observation teaching wushu to the class lined up in rows, the non-participation of the kids behind could result in accidents and injuries and may lead to investigations if that happens, no joke. I'm so convinced they will start bashing each other on the head if they don't do their horse-stance diligently with me.


Just to end off on a positive note - on Friday I followed the normal technical group that went for this 'junior chef' enrichment course, and saw them in action baking pastries of all sorts. It was really refreshing to see them all engaging in something enthusiastically for once, and I wish I can make this happen in my English class. One of the girls wanted me to help her knead balls of grated coconut, and I could only produce a ball by the time she's done with everything; nice to see that they are able to teach me for a change. Don't take it the wrong way, but I felt so much love for the kids at that moment, seeing them so happy.

Now, when can I start planning wonderful activities such as these...

At least die playing!

Read this!

Brits 'dying not to do exercise'

Lack of exercise increases the risk of heart disease and cancer

Most UK adults are so unwilling to exercise that not even the threat of an early death is enough to get them off the sofa, a survey suggests.

Only 38% of people questioned by YouGov said they would do more exercise if their life depended on it.

And British Heart Foundation figures show only a third of people manage to do enough exercise to achieve the minimum recommended amount.

Experts warned inactivity is dangerous even in those who are a healthy weight.

Among the 2,100 people surveyed, brisk walking was found to be the favourite way of getting exercise - before dancing, swimming or going to the gym.

Physical activity and obesity are two different risk factors so even if you're lean, if you're inactive you increase your risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease Dr David Haslam, National Obesity Forum

However, only 4% said they found exercise fun.

A greater inspiration was exercising to change body shape, particularly among women and young adults.

Almost a third of 18 to 24-year-olds reported they would do more exercise if they saw an unflattering photo of themselves or were told they looked fat.

Other less predictable forms of motivation to work out included fancying someone at the gym.

But only 13% of men and 7% of women said keeping a healthy heart was their main motivator.

Excuses for not exercising were found to be always close at hand - from not having enough time to the one in seven who blame bad weather for not doing enough physical activity.

Deadly serious

The British Heart Foundation, which is launching a campaign to encourage people to up their heart rate for 30 minutes a day, says that someone dies every 15 minutes as a direct result of physical inactivity.

Dr Mike Knapton, director of prevention and care at the BHF, said it was a "deadly serious" problem.

"With our busy lifestyles and labour-saving devices we've stopped getting the exercise our bodies desperately need.

"For many people, exercise has become an ugly word, something to avoid at all costs - but you'd be amazed how easy it is to up the tempo of your heartbeat.

"Just 30 minutes a day will do you and your heart the world of good."

The government recommends a minimum of 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity five times a week.

Dr David Haslam, clinical director of the National Obesity Forum, said it made for depressing reading but confirmed what had been shown in clinical trials, where even those who had a heart attack did not change their lifestyles.

"Children instinctively exercise when left to their own devices, but they don't because they're stopped from doing that by the school curriculum and parents scared of child abductors and murderers lurking on every corner.

"So, if it doesn't become a habit, you're not going to work hard to go against the tide and introduce it as an adult."

He added that exercise could be incorporated into everyday life.

"Physical activity and obesity are two different risk factors, so even if you're lean, if you're inactive you increase your risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease," he said.

Know most of the readers here are active people like myself, do keep it up! Saying that you lack time for exercise is super lame. Think of it as buying time for the future, because sports can help you take less MCs, save you trips to the psychiatrist from stress-related reasons, prevent you from getting fractures easily, and can potentially save you from the dialysis machine or the operation table. Women get osteoporosis easily without exercise, and men beer bellies which have a direct causal link to cardiovascular diseases (think it indicates fat around organs).

Go out and have fun!

Responsible parenting

My day was quite spoilt early in the morning when I tried to get this kid to take out the numerous earsticks on his earlobe and the lip stud out, the little rascal refused to listen to me, wouldn't talk or listen, and just dodged me all the way till he managed to worm back into class. There's nothing I can do if I don't want to start manhandling him, so I had to let him go, and I felt very irritated by my powerlessness.

Later in the day, I went in to take charge of my 3NT classes, who are taking courses in image consultancy or animation. The notorious few sprout nonsense in response to questions, made noise, then finally arranged a few chairs and went to sleep when no one paid any attention to them.

Parents (and all you would-be parents) really should make sure that they have loads of time to properly nurture their child everyday before deciding to have kids. Day in and out I am appalled by the character of these youths without guidance, loud and empty vassals without much useful knowledge, clueless about their direction in life, really feeling shy and inferior but faking bravery and confidence with those stupid antics everyday. It is not their fault that they did not have the proper guidance to do the right things in life. Why did their parents neglect to school them properly in moral lessons? Why did they bring their kids into the world?

Right now, I don't see myself going to have a kid for the next 5 years, and if I stretch that to the next 10 years, I'm probably going to stay that way after marriage. It's not that I am afraid my future kids will turn out this way. I just don't see why kids should come into the picture after marriage, seemingly only to satisfy the demands of a primitive natural impulse.

Winding down

Things are going slow right now, a good respite from my normal hectic routine. It's not that there's no work, but that I have the leeway to slow down in churning out stuff right now. My 3NT classes have this week long enrichment modules so I don't have to plan lessons for them this week. Got to produce something for them to work on next week though, in addition to silly things like writing a useless report, planning the year end activity for Odac, and working on my work target setting exercise.

I just got the schooling schedule for next year, and that has me looking forward to future holidays even though 2008 haven't started ha. I'll be going Bangkok for a week or so in December, and the rest of the time will be spent locally doing work most probably. Adults need lots of money to do a few things and I have become pretty thrifty; big holidays is equated with lots of money spent too, and so I haven't been thinking about them for a long while.

Been busy going for canoe polo after work religiously these few weeks, even though it is just for to train the new batch of players. The pathetic bronze medal did managed to make me more motivated than ever to improve on my personal skills. It's good to have something to distract me from the stress of work.

Work life is so boring. My blog is growing boring too.

Moods

Coming back from the school break this week, you hear of me complaining about being mentally unprepared and tired. Actually, the prospect of meeting my sian English class also puts me off somewhat, especially when I have to think of English work for them every other day in advance.\

But I told myself to try be cheerful and go into class with a happy-go-lucky mood, and well, it worked wonders. I didn't feel so bad about things when students don't do work, students seem more inclined to do my work, and I could even stem mischievous behaviour somewhat with my cheerful demeanour when talking to certain students about their behaviour. Things does become more pleasant when you have a healthy attitude.

Anyway, I went back to that infamous class to collect worksheets from some of them near the end of the day, and saw the entire class all seated and incredibly quiet in my English HOD/Discipline master's EOA class. I timidly went in to ask for the worksheets, and asked one of them softly if a test was on; Nope, it was just a normal lesson for them like any other day. Sigh. No point wondering why they don't behave like this in the class - your status as perceived by students makes all the difference.

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On a unrelated note, I was very disappointed when 3 of my malay ODAC kids were caught for possession of cigarettes today. I had always thought that the malay students in my school are all pretty angelic in behaviour. Well, it's not that they are 'bad' after today, but it just disappoints me that they turn out to be somewhat immature in thought to engage in smoking.

The boy I interviewed told me that they picked it up quite long ago, and when I said they shouldn't be smoking when they haven't even started earning their own keep, he replied that he does work after school. Apparently his family don't give him allowance during the weekends and holidays.

Ok. My guess is that maybe he picked up smoking from seeing people smoke at work. And he work partly to support his habit, partly because his family cannot satisfactorily provide for him. And probably like many others, the work will inevitably have a negative effect on his studies, and the lack of good qualifications in the future will hamper his ability to obtain good employment. It all sounds like a vicious cycle; that's probably the scenario of a typical lower-income class family.

Post - competition

The national champs for canoe polo was just over yesterday, and I still can't stop thinking of it every hour. I think it is rather strange really, that people spend so much time, money, and effort on sports like these, playing for a mere medal piece with no monetary value whatsoever. But somehow, the piece of metal I have with me now stirs up strong emotions in me still.

My team prepared for the competition as per usual - frequent absentees suddenly turned up for trainings, we got a few friendly games going, and training sessions focuses on game play and tactics rather than skills. During trainings, we couldn't beat the girls' team by more than 2 goals, and I thought we will get the same results as all other competitions, with nothing to show.

We got off to a slow start, losing our first match even when we rained so many shots on their goal frame. We eked out a win with some miraculous goals in the second match, and we told ourselves we must whack the last team, which we did with a 4-2 win. We went into the semis!

First match against Red Tide 2, and it was a glorious game. We defended so well that they had no chance to get a shot away, and gave them no turnover chances at all with superb passing and control of the offense. Again, we rained shots at them, and was unlucky to lost to 2 powerful long shots and a deflected shot. RT2 eventually won the gold, while we got the bronze in the 3rd-4th playoffs, making me a bitter man.

I still got lots more to improve - in the important matches, I was afraid of fumbling catches, and whenever I thought of shooting I cautioned myself with the consequences of a turnover attack should the shot get blocked. Every competition makes me feel the need to improve further.

But finally, I see a team worth playing with, and realistic goals worth striving for.

Streaming in Singapore Schools

Once and for all, I wish to put to rest the debate about the appropriateness of streaming students in Singapore schools. Perhaps the only thing that is questionable is when the streaming should be done, but there is no doubt to me that students need to be grouped according to abilities.

Fact: My sec 3Normal (Technical) students might even fail a sec 1 express stream English test paper.

I am tempted to let them try such a paper and see how well they fare, but I am not optimistic about the results. In the Normal technical stream, their writing component in test papers is guided - they can extract materials from a previous comprehension passage in the same paper, and simply rewrite in from another perspective. Even so, many fail this part, and some can't even be bothered to write. We give primary school vocabulary lists for them to work on, so far behind are they in terms of language abilities.

Fact: Even with students in the same class (for any stream), they often display varying competencies when comparing their results in single subjects.

In my sec 3NT classes again, there are the few who consistently get their A's, and others who regularly fail their English tests or get borderline passes. This shows that streaming is an inexact science, but a necessary one nonetheless. Imagine these kids tackling English papers designed in a different format - the weak students will have no chance at all with them. They will have to first show that they can handle papers customised to their ability level before attempting more difficult papers; which is the reason why promotion from one stream to another is difficult.

Students have a hard life in Singapore - from young they have to learn to swim or sink. If ever you readers out there have kids, make sure you teach your kids to have the proper attitudes with regards to studying, and help them learn their languages well. Somehow, I think that poor results in school can lead to social problems, as true as this statement is the other way round.

Movie Review: Ratatouille

So I was persuaded to watch this cartoon on Monday, though I didn't had much hope that it will turn out to be something irresistible - how interesting can a movie be when its whole plot can be summarised succinctly as 'sewer rat wanna be gourmet chef'...

Anyway, it was entertaining in some ways, though many things didn't make much sense at all. I didn't end up being convinced that 'Anyone can cook' in the sense of gourmet cooking and not just merely making raw ingredients palatable. Most people I know can hardly go beyond maggi mee and boiled eggs, which is not a fault onto them however; who have time for such things in this modern society of haste and waste?

But I do agree with the movie that it is much nobler to create than take. Animals can only take, and almost everything that they do create is for functional purposes. Only man can create (and apppreciate) 'useless' things such as art and cultural artifacts, and it is these things that elevates man to a higher level above the beasts, in certain aspects.

So when's the last time you created anything for purely aesthetic/altruistic reasons?

Teachers' Day

My first teachers' Day spent as a teacher - I didn't really feel happy. I am quite sheepish and embarrassed when my students wished me well about it, and I could only give them encouraging smiles of thanks that didn't really came out because my heart was overflowing with joy (or similar sorts of emotions).

I think it is all a little contrived for me, all the celebrations and stuff. The current situation as a teacher isn't exactly killing me, but in a short span of time it has definitely did much to lower my self-esteem, made me feel pathetic at times, and troubled me with the lesson planning and the miserable thought of seeing a certain class. I ain't even half cheerful in school everyday, and it makes me feel that I somehow let down my PE classes too. In short - I am still far away from the ideal teacher that I wanted to be. I probably haven't been an inspiration to anyone yet, haven't helped anyone much on anything, and have only been toiling like a slave for the school doing work that many don't want to bother themselves with.

I got a cup from my best English girl in the class, a bag of cookies from an Odac senior girl, a card from a sec 1 Odac girl, and yah, that's it. I wasn't bothered that I didn't more stuff, and actually I sort of didn't know what to do with the gifts (except for the cookies of course, which were quite good). I was very surprised a lot of you guys out there reading this sms-ed me your well wishes for the day though; really didn't know what made you guys remember this day, and me, when most of you ain't teachers. But nonetheless, I appreciate it, even though my reply to you might have been a bit sourish.

The start of term break

Yup, I got a week's break from work from tomorrow. That doesn't mean that I don't do work of course; anyone who think teachers enjoy all their holidays is very ill-informed. My Odac kids are doing their first aid course tom and tuesday, and I will be there, albeit doing work of my own while the listen to the instructors. Time is not to be wasted frivolously in school. Karen has suggested that I not organise events during the term break in the future so that both students and teachers have the break to themselves, and now I rightly concur with her on this.

I have been playing in the canoe polo national champs competition for 2 weekends now. It is always during time like these that the team really gets fired up and enthusiastic. During this period, juniors acquire their own paddles, we explored new tactics, made new commitments to train harder and better. The juniors were great, 2 out of 3 scored in their debut, and the crowd almost thought an upset was coming when they led the game 2-0 against NP. I am hoping that, having tasted success, they will eager to train hard and eventual win games as a team. And I hope that we will not forget our individual commitments to brush up on our individual skills.

So. Despite feeling dead and drained, I still hope that eventually, my team can commit themselves to more training each week. I always believe in the all-or-none principle, to some extent. One thing I realised: Having an active sports life makes me feel better, to be a committed sportsman rather than a tired teacher.

22nd ODAC AGM

Well well...it has been 4 years since I last participated in the AGM as an exco member, and since then I still went back religiously every year to support the event, both to meet up with the old people and also to show the new committee people that NUS ODAC have a history, and have seniors who are still concerned with the success of the club throughout the years.

Attendance for AGM has always been poor; more so with this year. It is important then, that people like myself attend to ask the candidates for the committee good questions, to let them understand the importance of the responsibilities that they will shoulder in the club. I hope that eventually, I will have a chance to go outdoors with them, inspire and show them that the club's unofficial alumni is always willing to go the extra mile to help them in their education to develop themselves into good leaders.

And of course we all enjoy the oldies' supper after that, to reminiscence about the old times, catch up, and dream of opportunities to meet up again in the future. Though it is shameful that I hardly have time to join the regular acitivites some of the oldies suggested, I hope that's not the always the case.

Though I feel old being at the AGM, it makes me feel young again.