Heroes (I)

Yeah yeah the olympic fever is over,

but what to do, I'm slow and procrastinating.


Voting time, who's your favourite tennis player

who represented Singapore?

Li Jia Wei, the beautiful captain,

the spunky newbie Feng Tian Wei or Wang Yue Gu?

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I would say that Wang is a hero in her own right.

Picture taken from http://www.ssc.gov.sg/publish/teamsingapore/en/games/Olympics/Beijing2008/beijing_2008/our_athletes.detail.htmlathleteID=1632
27th September 2008 1309 Team Singapore-Our Athletes

(not that I think quoting sources is not important

but I'm having troubles with the alignment when I put them in large font)

Straight after after her double match with team captain Li

against Kim Kyung Ah and Park Mi Young, she went up against Dang Ye Seo.

From the start, Dang was leading.

Pardon my poor memory but I remembered Dang was leading 7-0 at one point.

Wang didn't give up and managed to catch up with Dang.

Even though she eventually lost to Dang, 8-11, 12-14, 9-11, her perseverance won me over.

Imagine losing by 7 points consecutively .

Instead of losing to frustration and fumbling,

she still managed to stay calm,

gaining one point at a time to catch up.

Even when Dang was at game point,

she did not gave her opponent an easy time as well,

twarting Dang's many attempts at game points,

for three consecutive matches!

Mentally strong and

determined in face of unfavourable circumstances,

that's what I call a true athlete, champion and hero.

Going to School

This is what some students in Yunnan

had to go through going to school.

The girl may be grinning but she was actually very afraid.

As she is too light, she was stuck in the middle and had to use

her hands to manually climb to the other side

(reason why some of them "fly" in pairs).

Though both the parents and their child are very worried and scared,

the child obeyed her parents' wishes

to go to school knowing it is the only way out of their dire straits.

The school that they go to pales in comparison to the schools that we have.

Yet, some students may skip school

even though their schools may be very

well-equipped and are easily accessible.

What can you do with a tyre?

Students' Independence Day (II)

First point that I need to clarify is that this is not a post where I talk about how to make students into total independent learners.

One thing that I have discovered is that people (including myself) needs constant reminders, this applies strongly to children as well.

Here are some things that I do with my kids.

I try not scold them in front of other classes or students. Children feel embarrassment too. I make it clear to them I do not like to embarrass them too.

At the end of the morning assembly, or the end of the day, I will tell them about what went right and what went wrong. As time goes by, I will ask them about what went right and wrong instead.

I do not stop their misbehaviours immediately (unless it is very serious and needs immediate intervention). I expect them to control them themselves and I convey this to them. Children usually know what are the right and wrong behaviours when you ask them about it. After the misbehaviours, I will give my feedback to them and that I expect to see improvements on the next occassions. I think I might feel embarrassed that my students are temporarily misbehaving but it would be worth it if they can be more independent in the future.

To quote: Teachers are responsible for the lifelong happiness of students.

One example is the lining up during morning assembly. I will tell them about my observations after the assembly. i.e. too much space in between, lines not straight. I will ask them about the consequence of their actions. I will also tell them what exactly they can do to improve on the situations. i.e. make sure your shoulders and aligned with the one in front (Sometimes its not that they do not want to follow your instructions, but they do not know how to go about carrying it out). They are children, not little adults.

Students' Independent Day- Teachersurprise

My students planned a surprise for me for Teachers' day.

Some of them stayed back to decorate the classroom.I was in for a pleasant surprise when I went to class early that day to prepare for lessons.
Nearly every part of the classroom was decorated.

After the morning assembly, my students prevented me from going into the classroom not knowing that I had already discovered the surprise.

To my further surprise, almost all the students (save for those guards) hid under their chairs and popped up as I opened the door.

One of the students took the initiative to plan a party. Some of the students brought along tibits. The ringleader made sandwiches for the whole class!

Their parents knew it and even supported their planning.

Am I touched? Yes? So what am I happy about?

First, they showed team spirit.

Second, they showed independence. They are only nine years old. Yet, they could initiate and plan the party on their own. Can I claim the credit? I dare not. But I do try to inculcate in them independence. You can see the next post if you are still interested in reading.

Firstime

This is not my first posting. I needed a new start where my postings are relevant to people and not just about my frivolous self centred life. Thus this site is going to be anonymous where I will not post pictures of myself .

FAQ

Some FAQs about this blog

1. Why the name studenteacherstudenteacher?
On a recent trip to China, I learnt that everyone is addressed as a teacher because everybody has the responsibility to set as an example. Each of us is also learning how to live your life. At the end of the day, as we learn to become better people (student), we set an example to others (teacher). Thus it starts with student, and ends with teacher. The roles are constantly changing, thus the repeat.

2. Why are there no pictures of you?
I am not selling meat. I want a certain level of anonymity, thank you very much.

3. Anything that you can reveal?
No brainers that I am a teacher by occupation as can be inferred by my postings. I'm a teacher by occupation but I also volunteer as a teacher outside curriculum time.

4. Is this a blog where you rant against students and parents?
Nope, I am just sharing experiences on what I feel works and what doesn't work. These are not only applicable in school but in life as well. Comments are welcome.