First and foremost, I would like to offer my heartfelt thanks to all who took the trouble to show appreciation to me as a teacher through the gifts, cards, sms and verbal greeting on this special day! I am deeply touched by the effort put in. This is the intrinsic reward that no job in the whole world can even offer! :)

Well, here they are: the photos of every single gift that was given in random order (NOT in any order of preference/liking! I cherish every gift, whether big or small, simple or delicate, cheap or expensive, hand-made or bought! it's the thought that counts!)


My table was so packed with gifts that i took quite a while to clear them! :)


thank you adelaine for the happy beans pen and the paper crane! got your msg! Jia you for your EOY exams! you can! :)


thank you jane and yufeng for the stirrer! thank you for faithful and passionate service in SJAB! all the best for your prelims and coming Os! :)


thank you annabel for the card, the teacher's day msg and the lollipop! I will defintely eat it! Dont lose heart! I believe you can make her proud! :)



thank you zilianers for the hand-made crystal ball and the falling star! continue to stay "chio" and so "zai" in your studies! :)


thank you sonia for the red pen, chewing gum, the nice ribbons and wrapper! glad that you will work hard to do me proud this EOY! jia you! :)


thank you jasmine for the rochers! i finally gave you what you have been pestering me for! happy viewing! :)


thank you terrance for the jar of sweets! thanks for being such a good logistics head for SJAB! :)


thank you coolness for the cup of sweets and the note! stay cool by always doing so well for physix, ya!? :)


thank you christina and tracy for the red pen! 2 chris: stay pro for physix!! 2 tracy: u know what 2 do, right!? :P


thank you xinyi for the photo frame cum note pad holder! continue to be such a sweet and dilligent student! :)


thank you yaohui for the stuff dog! it was a nice surprise for me! dont be discouraged by your CT results this time round! do well for your coming EOY! :)


thank you amanda for the hand-made card! never knew we took a photo together during NDP! hopefully i will get to teach 109 again next year! :)


thank you joscelin, my mentee, for the apple! keep staying ever so creative and artistic! :)


thank you mei luan for the beautiful cake puff! never knew you are so good in baking! shall visit you one day @ cake avenue! :)


thank you guan qun for the toblerone! jia you for physix! dont freak out bcos of it! i am sure you will eventually master it! :)


thank you councillors for the descriptive ice-cream sticks and hearts! I believe it must be your hard work right, kit yeng? :)


thank you huiwen for the red pen! 303 is fortunate to have a chair person like you! :)


thank you peilin for your book of thankfulness! i shall remember every single bible verse in the book! hope they come in handy for you too! :)


thank you xuejie and wanqing for the trophy! i will definitely try my best to reach the goal! thanks for being my wonderful physix reps! :)


thank you ivy for the hand-made card and crane! it's really the thought that counts and i will take note of your constructive feedback! :)


thank you vanessa for the figurine and card! it was a pleasure having you as one of my mentees for TOL! your model house rocks! :)


thank you zhi yong for the pen! though you are ultra cheeky in class, I enjoyed having you as my student! :)


thank you yini for the photo frame! wishing you all the best for the coming promos! jia you! :)



thank you joyce and jia ying for the famous amos cookies! dont lose heart concerning your results! JC life is tough but you are tougher! :)


thank you emily for the hand-made card! I believe your hard work will pay off this coming EOY exams! Jia you! :)


thank you kit yeng for the brownie! I'm sure you are doing just fine in JC! continue to be so happy always! :)


thank you daphne (303) and jinghui(not you meh!?) for the soccer ball stuff toy! jia you for your coming EOY! do me proud! :)


thank you abigail, yiyan, chrysan, amanda, yining, sabrina and cynthia for the stuff bear! stay always so close together as friends! hope you will all be in the same class next year! :)


thank you 303 for the hand-made card! this class is getting so much more alive these days! keep it going! :)


thank you lixuan (304) for the male sign, the msg and the photo frame! very thoughtful of you indeed, considering the fact that you are so frustrated with physix! I am sure you can do very well for your EOY exams! Jia you! :)



thank you felicia and melissa for the gigantic card and the jelly beans! this card tells it all! continue to work hard understanding physix! let's have more remedials, ya!? :) free kick was great fun! :D




thank you weiru, soh min, rebecca, xinjie, lynn, cuitian, cheryl, sok ee, daphne and jamie for the big bouquet of sunflowers, the card and the photo frames! very very sweet of all of you indeed! really hope that the 10 of you will always be close friends (not just only playing bridges together!) and you will all excel in physix together! rock on! :D thank you 302 for signing the card as well! prove that you are exceptional good in this coming EOY, ya!? :)




thank you 301 for reciting that "marriage vow" to me! till death do we part indeed! really hope that the class will excel in this coming EOY exams and become even more united! :) thank you letts for the gift (that you bought from Europe) and that you are giving on behalf of the class. appreciate your act of sacrifice! :)


that's me with my new found brother, chow ah beng (aka mr liu)! tucking out all the way! cool isnt it!? LOL! :P


that's me with puay bing, esther, jia ying and pearlyn! thanks for coming back to pay me a visit! shall catch up again with all of you when we manage to arrange for a class outing! meanwhile, stay cheerful and funky! :D


that's me with some teachers and 304! thank you 304 for the pizza party! it's was simply wonderful! the teachers really felt like superstars! enjoyed the captainball game a lot a lot! the ODD team is fantastic but the EVEN team is even better with me around! LOL! :P we shall have another round soon, ya!? :)


lastly, I was there at the teacher's day rally 2006 with PM Lee as the guest speaker! The talk was inspiring! heard that i was caught on TV, messaging on my phone! omg! :P but it was for a good cause so no regrets! :D

this entry took me hours to complete but it's worth it! :D happy holidays!

Comment! (4) | Recommend! (3) | Categories: teacher\'s day [t], gifts [t], photos [t], students [t], memorable [t]

A.C.E and their cousins with the puppeteer for the Eric Carle's The Hungry Caterpillar!


Chris and Ekklesia taking a break @ ACT 3 Academy. They are learning Speech and Drama there every Sat! They are loving it! :)


Chris helping me to fill in the marks for my students' scripts! :)


The kids having their dinner cum picnic @ the playground! :)


Ekklesia and Ariel @ Carrefour!


Ekklesia and Ariel playing under the trolley! :P


JJ's BD on 29 Aug! The Class celebrated for him with a swiss roll and some gummy sweets surrounding it! innovative! :)




301'06 had our flea market for CIP these couple of days, selling ice milo freeze, sweets and balloon flowers :)


Balloons with well wishes released into the sky, wishing them all the best for their Prelims and O Levels! :)



2 model houses that my students did for PBL/TOL :) It works like the real thing!


The double hearts made of a single dollar note. Thanks to J.C, I managed to learn how to make such a nice masterpiece! :)


The first card addressed partially to me from 304'06! Curious: who are the guy and the gal?



The first two presents i received for teacher's day this year from liting and andrea :) thank you!

shall end here! having teacher's day dinner tonight! the theme: aloha (hawaii) :)

Comment! (0) | Recommend! | Categories: photos [t], teacher\'s day [t], kids [t], 30106 [t], CIP [t]

When you put in effort and you did not get what you have expected for your tests or exams, how should you react?

naturally, you will be disappointed, frustrated or discouraged about it... that's normal, that's human... but after all the negative feelings have subsided, what are you going to do about it? for some, they decided to give up and not try anymore... for some, they turn their disappointment into hatred and dont want to have anything to do with the subject anymore... to some, they humble themselves and possess the passion and drive to learn from their mistakes and improve on their understanding and fill up their pockets of holes in their knowledge... from there, they emerge stronger and rise on the next occasion to clinch the fruit that is worthy of their effort.. when we did not reap what we sow in the first round, NEVER give up! we are actually half way there towards excellence! the only sensible thing to do now is to know what went wrong and not to repeat the same mistakes again!

If it's carelessness and insufficient time to complete the paper, then it means a lack of practice... work harder and do more! in that way, you will become more familiar with your stuff and be able to understand questions more easily and correctly!

If you dont understand the questions asked, read once through to have a brief overview of the question. read again but do it sentence by sentence. extract out the key info in each sentence and write it down in point form or in simple equations what is given. finally, look at the last part of the question, which usually tell you what the question is asking for. compare what is available and what is required. think through if there is any concepts or equations or knowledge that can be used to link what is given in the question to what is required to be solved in the question. the more you have practiced and understand what you studied, the more options you have to solve the problem at hand! and many a time, think simple.. problems are not as complicated as you think!

end here with my all-time favourite story of the way of a champion :)

THE WAY OF A CHAMPION

“How much further to the waterfall?” the little boy asked.
“Up around the bend, champion,” the old man answered with a chuckle.
“That’s what you said last time, Paw-Paw.” The boy paused. “What’s a champion?”

The old man gazed down upon his grandson before answering.
“A champion is someone who believes they can win and who keeps on trying until they do,” he said.
“You mean champions don’t always win?” the boy queried.
“No, son. Champions don’t always win—but they believe that they can and eventually they do. Most champions lose many times before they win.”

“That sounds hard, Paw-Paw,” the boy remarked.
“Sometimes. You have to grow a champion muscle.” The old man pointed down the path. “Do you see that butterfly?”

“Yes, sir.”
“Where did it come from?”
“From a cocoon,” the boy replied. “You showed me that on the purple butterfly bush.”

“How did it get out?” the old man continued.
“It grew its wings and broke through.” The boy beamed.
“What happened when you helped one of the butterflies break through?” the old man prodded in a soft voice.

The boy’s face dropped. “Its wings weren’t strong enough and it fell to the ground where it died.”
“That’s right. In order to fly, butterflies need to first grow strong.” The old man placed his palm on the boy’s shoulder. “People are the same way. To be a champion, we have to become strong. Usually though, it’s not the actions that need to be strong—it’s the belief.”

”What do you mean, Paw-Paw?” the boy asked.
The old man stopped and bent down to eye level.
“Do you remember when you learned how to ride your bike?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Do you remember how you fell down?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Do you remember how you had cuts and scrapes and had to go get Band-Aids and even cried a few tears?”
“Yes, sir—but not that many,” the boy declared.
“Why did you keep getting up?” The old man pushed.
“Because I knew I could do it,” the boy stated. “If Sammy could do it, then I knew I could, too.”

“That’s right,” the old man nodded. “Sometimes you have to borrow somebody else’s belief until yours becomes strong enough that you don’t need it. You saw Sammy do it and you believed that if he could, so could you.” The old man grinned at the boy. “Was is that hard to get up after you fell?”

“No,” the boy barked.
“Of course not,” the old man affirmed. “It never is if you believe. Champions know that.”

The old man took the boy’s hand and began to stand.
The boy tugged on his finger and held him still. His brown eyes looked straight at the old man.
“I’m always going to be a champion, Paw-Paw,” the boy declared. “’Cause I can always get up.”
“Yes, you can,” the old man smiled. “Yes, you can.”

Comment! (2) | Recommend! | Categories: champion [t], lesson [t], learn [t]

my phone rang early in the morning.. it was a call from one of my students... he has a big teddy bear in his hands that he hopes to pass to his g.f for her birthday but he is too shy to carry it around the whole day before school closes... so he asked if he can deposit the bear in my car and retrieve it at the end of the day. i consented... :)

when school closed, he called again to ask for the bear... with his g.f following a distance away, thinking of the surprise that he is giving!? he thanked me for helping him and he volunteered to help me the next time when i need any favour from him :)

when he took the bear and passed it to her, he shyly wished her happy birthday and wish her "fast tall grow big - literal translation from chinese!" and she walked away in one direction and he in another... shy couple indeed but i felt sweetness for them although i never encourage relationships in sec sch cos students are generally not mature enough to know what is love all about... anyway, since they are together, i simply wish that they will build a positive relationship and help each other out in their studies.

today, some of the boys showed me a video of another girl and another boy acting intimately at the library (which is most inappropriate!)... and they asked and dared the boy (who gave the bear) if he has done that with his g.f... he did not reply and i knew that he will not do such a thing with his g.f... i stepped in to say that he is a gentleman... and i am proud of him for respecting his g.f and himself in keeping themselves proper in their relationship... it's kinda rare these days among young couples... I hope they will continue to keep it this way and their relationship will continue to grow and mature into a marriage! :)

Comment! (3) | Recommend! | Categories: life [t], lesson [t]

level of difficulty: 3.5 out of 5

class:
3/1 highest: 19/20 (ming liang, theodore) lowest: 8/20
average: 14.52/20 avg. %: 72.62

3/2 highest: 17/20 (kelvin) lowest: 6/20
average: 12.93/20 avg. %: 64.64

3/3 highest: 20/20 (weiqi, ching yi, leon yoon, menghua, kay wee)
lowest: 10/20
average: 16.00/20 avg. %: 80.00

3/4 highest: 20/20 (shuning, christina, yan wei)
lowest: 6/20
average: 14.95/20 avg. %: 74.76

well done! keep it up! :)

Comment! (1) | Recommend! | Categories: physix [t], results [t]

The face of a child changes the most during the first few years... if you miss it, you will not be able to remember/capture how he/she looks anymore... this is part 1 of a series of faces of my kids! starring in this episode, Christian Chow, my eldest son :)

characteristics: he loves marine creatures and animals, he loves to sing, he loves to dance, he wants to learn the guitar and drums (which we are enrolling him into this coming week!), he loves to draw! :)

Comment! (2) | Recommend! | Categories: christian [t], kids [t], photos [t]