Hehe... 4 more days!!

Heh. Here's a pic of us (H, SL and Me!) acting cute in the staffroom to celebrate the fact that there's only 4 more working days left in our Practicum! I'll surely miss my fellow trainee! They are a fun bunch to hang out with. T_T

And the kids of course.... they've grown more adorable throughout the course of these 10 weeks. Besides the joy and excitment of beginning a new chapter in life, there's also sadness at the thought that I'll not get to see these kids again. Oh well, 天下无不散之宴席... who knows, I might just end up back at DS in a few years time. =)

It’s nearing the end of the road…

And I actually felt a little sad. Contrast it to the previous posts that I made about wanting Practicum to end ASAP, it might be kinda weird to say that I’m sad that practicum’s going to end soon. It’s not that I don’t want to go back to NIE, it’ll be fun to see the NIE peeps again. But there’s so much that I’ll miss in DS. Well, not so much… but mainly my fellow trainees and the kids.

My SCM actually asked if I’m interested in teaching English, coz DS is in need of e-lang teachers and they’ll get me to stay if I agree to teach e-lang. It’s always a comfort to go back to familiar surroundings but I have no confidence in my grammar. I never really understood the intricacies of it. =_= Besides, I’ll never know how good DS really is until I have experience at other schools. And DS really is a great place. They have a fantastic school culture and the kids there are adorable. If any of the NIE peeps are posted there, they’re really lucky.

Though it’d be supreme irony if they make me teach e-lang over at my new posting. =_=

It’s all over!!!

It’s been a fucking long time! But now it’s all over! Cleared my final formal observation by my Hist CT! I really don’t know what he thought of that lesson coz it’s a very basic lesson with just teacher-talk and questioning. I hope he’ll find it all right. Heh.

But that’s not the most important thing. The important thing is that it’s all over!!! And the behaviour of the class touched me deeply. My very first observation was with this class too and it didn’t turn out too good. But this lesson gave me a good feeling. The little and some not so little munchkins were really sweet. That class is one of my most notorious classes. But they behaved themselves for my observation. =) The guys were really adorable today –cooperative, enthusiastic and responsive. I couldn’t ask for better students. =) That lesson just made my day!

Edit: I just got back the APT form from my CT! It’s not too bad I guess, especially when compared to my first ob. Huge improvement I’d say! Haha… my CTs are all nice folks. =)

One more to go!!

Decided to have a formal observation by my lit Ct on the spur of the moment. Must be ra’s fault. =P

Hahaha… anyways, I decided to get it over and done with despite not having prepared much. But it went well I guess. My CT was happy with the lesson and the way I interacted with the kids. I’m happy with my new approach too. Being more relax in the classroom really helps. I don’t get irritated and the kids are also happy. So in the end, everything went well and I’m kinda relieved. Just one more this Friday and it’ll all be over! Getting the APT form from her tomorrow... hopefully it'll be good! =)

The kids were just adorable today. I think I’m really going to miss them when practicum is done. T_T On the other hand… I can’t wait for it to end! =P

The long weekend is bliss incarnate!

Heh. Despite life getting easier, the weekend’s still something to look forward to. I can’t wait to get back to NIE! Argh… though there’s still the literature assignment left undone. But I’ll churn it out by Monday I guess. Nat, Ra, you guys wanna meet up in NIE on Monday for some makan?

Sigh… been back to training last wed and nearly died! My muscles are still aching. It felt good but the lack of regular practice really killed me. I think I’ll have to be more regular in future.

School was rather hectic this past week. I’ve been rather stern with the kids and I’m kinda upset about it. I really don’t like to scold them. And I really feel that it’s not that effective. But I really cannot find any other way to get it into their head that it’s really for their own good! I very much suspect my own teachers felt the same way I do now back when they were teaching my class. Hahaha… frustrated and helpless coz the kids just don’t wanna learn. But it’s affecting my mood. I’m gonna cool it and take a more relax attitude next week and see how it goes.

Some of the kids are really adorable though… hmmm… even though some of em are slightly crazed. They really are! A little crazed that is. Haha… especially this group of secondary two girls I taught for a little while before the switch in timetables caused me to give up their class. Adorable but wacky. Loved the wackiness though. They’re funny. =P

Gonna miss my fellow trainees too when I leave DS. T_T Not equally of course. Haha… there are some I like more than others. =P I’ll surely miss SL and H the most! There’s this kid in one of my classes. He’s pretty cute lah I’ll have to say. H is sooooo taken with him. Kept going on and on about how cute he is. I have to remind her that he’s not legal yet. Haha… I do agree that he’ll be a heartbreaker when he’s older. Now, I just wish he’ll read the text and do his homework even when I'm not there to nag him into doing it. =_= Coz I feel he's a smart kid and capable of so much more.

Life outside school…

Sometimes, it’s easy to be consumed by school life. Practicum takes up so much time and it’s so easy to be overwhelmed by it all. Thank goodness for my dearest friends outside the school context, like J and the kendo peeps, who’s always there to hear me whine and offer constructive comments.

Went out with the kendo peeps on Thursday night because Z came back from Japan… that lucky thing! =_= It was so good to meet up with the gang. All the conversations about training, about who’s back and who’s missing and who’s being irritating, really made me realize how much I miss trainings and hanging out with them. They are really a hilarious bunch of juniors/friends. There’s no doubt that the kendo community is a really close-knit one. It made me a little sad that I’ve excluded myself recently because of practicum. Yosh! I have to make time to go back for training… though I’ll most likely not survive the training… =_=

Friday was exciting… there’s no other word to describe the experience. The exhilaration of rushing out an assignment on the deadline itself coupled with the planning of lessons for the day made for a very exciting day indeed. But I’m glad I managed to churn it out. Now there’s only the literature assignment left. Hehe… I’m sure the Good Friday weekend is sufficient. But it was good to see my NIE mates. Good to chat about our experiences and gossip about “the thing”. Can't wait to see them in back in NIE!

Only a few more weeks to go… I’ll be glad to go back to NIE but I’ll surely miss the kids at DS. It started real slow but they’re starting to get really adorable. Hmmm... I wonder why... *ponders*

Ps: J dearest! Thank you thank you thank you!!! Words cannot express my gratitude… what would I do without you!~ But expectations really kills… the book wasn’t as good as I’d hope it would be. =_=

oh where has all my money gone too?

I should be saving lots of money since I have no time nowadays… but unfortunately, retail therapy works for me. So instead of saving, I spent even more than usual. Hahaha… but it makes me really happy. So I guess it’s all worth it! =)

Hectic week up ahead. Lesson preparation’s a bitch. =_=

There’s going to be another formal observation by my sup, and I’m going to request for 2 observations by my main CT so I can finish the assignment set by ms Sandra by 7th April. I think there’s going to be another observation by one of my other CT but at this point in time, the memory’s all fuzzy. Here’s hoping that all goes well!! Oh well, at the very least, the people factor is tolerable. I think that’s the most important factor in any workplace.

*ponders*

To all my nie mates out there “braving the wilderness”! Take heart! The end is near! Hahaha… =P