End of the Road and Term 4 Updates

The dust has settled for about a week already since the last Chem paper and finally I've more or less tidied up the remaining loose ends at work. All that remains for the near future is to settle the admin before passing over my IGC duties to the new teachers (some of you may have known by now that I've joined the Students' Council) and also the proposal for the Board Games Elective that I'm co-conducting for the Chrystal Programme next year.

As for my other department duties, I'll leave it till I'm done with my reservist (7th to 15th) before I start preparing. Kinda looking forward to some of the things, esp maybe revamping the teaching of H1 Chem and coming up with some interesting problems for PBL. Gonna relook at all the chem textbooks that I've borrowed the last few years and dig up some interesting pics/facts and also hopefully gain some insights into how to better teach certain topics. Then I can finally clear these books from my room/desk and do some proper spring cleaning for 2010!

Most recent updates - Bought a new computer system ($1.5k) on Mon (thanks Jon again for helping me out!) which I collected on Tue so haven't really had time to test it out yet and also a new ORIGINAL computer game (Dragon Age: Origins - Collector's Edition)($79.9) just ytd which sadly has given me a lot of headache installing (Data Error - CRC with a certain rar file; even installing DirectX gave me problem cos they couldn't verify the file - any brilliant souls out there who knows anything?) and apparently there are plenty of people in the world facing the same problem. Looks like a really brilliant game based on the reviews (which is why I bought it in the first place) and reading the manual already makes me wanna dive into the game immediately so hopefully this matter can be resolved soon!

Term 3 Updates - Teacher's Day Celebrations and Dinner - Missed this out the last time cos it was the last day of Term 3. Had a great day and for once I did NOT have to be stressed about performing for Teacher's Day since I wasn't asked this time round - not that I had time to prepare a new song anyway haha. The J2 turnout was a lot smaller than what we had for my previous batch so not many gifts this time round compared to previous years but thanks to all those who turned up and those who took the time and effort to make/buy gifts and write cards and smses!

Really, for all teachers, it's being appreciated by your students that makes what we do worthwhile. Even though sometimes results don't always go our way, even though sometimes we go crazy at the mistakes we see, as long as we try our best within our limits and the kids understand and appreciate it, I guess that's probably all we can ask for. You look at any teacher's workspace and you'll see the things that students give them over the years cos it's all these things and words of encouragement that keep us going. =)

The staff dinner was another fun night, theme being Olympics and this time we didn't really plan on what to wear, just more or less some random sporty gear. The Maths dept was very well organised and all of them came dressed as a soccer team (complete with manager and coach!) and I was rooting for them to win the best-dressed team, which they did, not surprisingly. =)

During the theory contest on Olympics, our table made it to the 3rd/4th placing against a group of Econs teachers but anyway it was settled by a game of Wii bowling which was hilarious cos the Econs rep started first and the Econs teachers cheered after every ball and we also did the same when it was our rep's turn, just that we were louder and more vigorous. When it became obvious that we were gonna win, I told the whole group that after our rep throws the last ball we're going to run up to him and mob him, which we did, much to the laughter of the crowd and we were so high we even carried him from the centre of the ballroom to the exit. The emcee called us the crazy chemists and he prob has a point. But it was a lot of good clean fun! =)

Sep Hols - Fairly busy period of intense consultations, which was quite tiring but it's good to clear up their doubts though sometimes the questions I hear scares me... Also met one of my fans (so claimed by a student) from another JC in school during consultation with some students that were not from my class. Super funny sia... =p

Met up with my army pals also at one of my friend's place (a rich guy) at Telok Kurau and we played Wii for the first time in my life and it was super fun! Raving Rabbids, WWF, and Mario Kart were so fun to play!

Term 4 Updates - Week 1 and 2 Prelims and a busy period of marking (and remarking for us). Sep 14th was a disastrous day - worst in my life! Bad things just happened one after another and it was certainly a day to forget though there were many lessons learnt. Dunno what happened to me also that day - not thinking properly.

Week 1 - Saw a vaguely familiar face in the GO and I was wondering if the person was an ex-student so I asked her and she said she was from TJC. Then I realised I saw her when I invigilated at TJC last year and the amazing thing was that I still remembered her name, which prob stunned her (not the first time that people have been stunned by me knowing their names =P). Anyway, I remembered quite a few other people from that group which I invigilated cos I invigilated them a couple of other times also and I think they found me quite funny so they kinda remembered me also.

Week 2 (Mon) - Met up with WS, Hazel and Sufen for lunch and LAN (L4D with plenty of screaming, again =P) then proceeded to my colleague's wedding. Ever since one of my colleague's wedding in May where she showed a cartoon production of their love story, 2 of my colleagues have also hired the same company to do the same thing but there's always something new since they have different love stories and it's cute and funny so still got lots of entertainment value.

Week 4 (Tue) - Met up with ZAM and XL to celebrate ZY's birthday at Hei Sushi. As usual, I just paid for the food but also included tickets for AQ's concert also as part of the package haha while XL gave her something v practical for her studies in Australia and the girls gave her something special for her eyes only. =P

Week 5 (Wed) - Had our final chem lecture where we gave out stuff to each of our chem reps and also said our final words to the cohort. Also gave them a sneak preview of a new chem song I created and asked them to turn up for the mock paper if they wanted to hear the full version of it. =P

Had our Inter-JC Staff soccer tournament on Wed and we obtained our best ever results in all these years, which was what I hinted in my previous post when I said we had much better players this time round. Anyway, we made it to the Quarter-Finals! Considering we never won a match in 2006 and 2007 (we didn't participate in 2008), this was much much better, though we rode our luck at times also. There was a lot more team spirit and finally we had a pretty solid keeper (who is actually very keen to be a keeper), solid defenders and people who have stamina to chase and defend. And we actually had enough players for almost 2 teams of 7!

Anyway, we drew with IJC 0-0 in our first match, beat CJC 1-0 in our second, beat JJC 1-0 in our third and lost VJC 1-0 in our fourth to end up second in our group by the closest of margins (we edged out JJC after having the same no. of points, goals scored and goals conceded but went through due to the better head-to-head result). Although our goals were gifted to us, it would've been harsh for us to not qualify cos we held our own against VJC, which was clearly the team to be feared, and threw our bodies to block their shots. We almost held out for the point that we needed to be sure of qualifying only to see a last-second corner falling to their player at the back post who ran in unmarked to score so it would've been really cruel if we went out. We lost to ACJC 1-0 in the QF and I supposed they deserved it though it was really due to their 1 star player who was all over the place and shooting like nobody's business. All in all a very enjoyable performance though I managed to pick up a serious injury to my hand thanks to a clearance from my own player haha. Crap!

(Thu) - Made test-tubes and cards for my students together with some of the other teachers and it was a pretty fun experience, but very time-consuming and tiring also, especially when you are handicapped. But preparing the solutions, quotes, and putting in the glitter and stuff was nice. Really a big thanks to my colleague who helped me out big-time cos of my hand and also to ZY who helped out with the cards in the evening. There can certainly be improvements to the process so that it won't be so time-consuming in the future =)

(Fri) - Farewell Assembly and it was finally time for our performance which we spent a fair bit of time rehearsing (more than usual cos a lot of people involved). Took me some time to come up with the lyrics also but I was pleased with the final product cos I felt it was meaningful though on the emo side at times but I thought the rap part was quite funny haha. Thanks to everyone who had participated in coming up with the performance, including our slideshow producers =)

Anyway, apart from our performance, we had Econs and Physics before us and they each made a video which I think was quite funny (we didn't get to see cos we were backstage preparing). Maths did another fabulous job again, following on their innovative rap last year, this time they made a spoof of Wondergirls' "Nobody" and you prob have been on Mars the last couple of weeks if you've never seen or even heard of it. Apparently it was even featured on 8 days! Finally, a performance by THE "F.A.T." (Fabulously Attractive Teachers) was cool and cute also. Prob one of the best farewell assemblies I've seen - certainly better than the 1st one I attended in 2007. =)

After the performance, I went to the various classes to give out their cards and to wish them well. Lots of photo-taking as you would expect on this day, (if you're reading this and you have photos with me in it - please email me!!!) even with fans from other classes, LOL, though I think my Chem Bro may have more fans than me =p

Hopefully all of them liked the test-tubes and cards that were made for them cos I thought through which quotes were most suitable for each of them based on their character and performance and also tried to figure out which colours they would prefer. =)

Week 6 (Fri) - Chem Mock Paper and as promised, I delivered my latest Chem Single "Alkanes, Alkenes, Arenes" based on Jay Chou's "Pu Gong Ying De Yue Ding" (I initially mixed up the title of the song haha). Enjoyed the song myself and hopefully the kids did!

Went to see the musical side of AQ together with the others at VCH and it was a pretty decent performance I would say. At least I enjoyed it but for me, the Meiden band has always been the benchmark for a really entertaining and solid performance.

Week 7 (Fri) - Went to celebrate MY's and XL's birthday at Modesto (we initially wanted to go Hard Rock Cafe but it was too crowded). Food was just so-so for me so I don't think I'll be going back there anytime soon.

(Sun) - Met up with quite a few of the ex-IGC kids for lunch and gaming and Jonathan was in his element with some of the crappiest jokes yet (I still can't forget the "shimali" one =P). Proceeded to Settler's for some gaming and I feel they need up the standard of the facilitators there seriously. Some of the games they recommended were not fun and they didn't know how to teach the complicated ones that we wanted to play. But at least we managed to have a good game of "Dominion", which we really enjoyed.

Week 8 (Tue) - Had our Science Retreat and it was actually a pretty fruitful one, contrary to what I had feared initially. Learnt a couple of things through the sharing with other departments that we may be able to adopt next time. Would be good to see how to restrategise our teaching. Some of us went for bowling later on as part of our chosen activity and it was very fun, probably more so since I won both games amongst our chem people haha. =P

(Fri) - Played soccer with other teachers and students as part of our plan to incorporate more soccer training sessions. Had a fun game until I sustained a bizarre injury when I turned and slipped on the wet grass, spraining my foot (which still hasn't fully recovered after almost a month).

(Sat) - Went for my chem bro's wedding and I liked the wedding souvenir which was a pack of playing cards with cute wedding design. During the dinner there was a funny occasion where the waiter tried to serve us scallops on our plates using 2 spoons but the scallop kept slipping out of the spoons and in the end he sent 2 scallops flying onto the table so we told him we would do it ourselves. Later on, we observed how the other waiters did it and at an adjacent table, one of the waiters used a spoon and fork and had no problems at all. Then we commented that it was a good story to tell the students next time cos sometimes if you do something by the wrong method, no matter how hard you try, you cannot succeed. No concept!!! Haha, that's what you get at a table full of teachers. Went to karaoke after that, which was quite a spontaneous thing cos somebody just suggested on the day itself and we were all on. Had a great time and the lighting made the room feel like a disco, which was just right for us hahaha =p

K, it's getting late, there's just too many things to update (that's what happen when you don't blog for more than 3 months!) and I gotta wake up in a couple of hours time for OGL camp so that's it for now. Update again on Sun when I'm back home! =)