T2 W1-2

Thought I'd carry on and finish posting once and for all so that I can be more timely in my updates in future and not spend time remembering what happened a long time ago. Time management - don't procrastinate!

T2 W1 (Mon) - Back to school! Busy clearing up residual work from the holidays and also with last minute meeting and helping to cover a colleague's lesson.

Lab with 10S417 was very funny, esp. during the demonstrations. Firstly, I was showing them the demo of the preparation of a standard solution whereby I barely took a pinch of salt to put in the weighing bottle. As I showed them the salt and explained to them the need to be economical, some were joking, "Wah, Mr Lau, it's so little I can't even see the salt!" I was saying that it's ok and they can imagine that I had a lot of salt which has dissolved already (though I did stress to them that they would need a fair bit of water to dissolve in the experiment later cos they will be taking a lot more salt then I did). Then during preparation I reminded them that they must follow everything that I do in order to get accurate results. So as I was topping up to the mark for the volumetric flask and closing one of my eye, somebody commented, "Ok, we must also close one eye to see clearly." Everyone started laughing. Finally, as I was shaking I told them they must give shake energetically and I shook really vigorously and gave some stupid face when doing that to make them laugh. Super funny sia but it's good to see that they enjoyed it. Tough crowd to entertain!

During the weighing, as one of the groups was standing around me, somebody commented, "Wah, Mr Lau, new pants ah?" I was very surprised that anyone would notice such things and joked, "Eh, how come you notice such things? Wah, are you stalking me?" Then as I was going through the explanation of how the weighing balance works, somebody asked me a really "duh" question and I teased the person cos she and her classmates call her bimbo and I said, "That was quite bimbotic!" Then she jokingly hit my hand lightly with her lab manual and I said, "Wah, later newspaper come up with story of student assaulting the teacher!" Quite a series of hilarious moments there. Then throughout most of the lab I was squatting to check their solution level for their standard solution until my knees were hurting and I was adopting some funny postures when I was squatting haha. =p

Tue - Tut with 10S417 - funniest moment was when I was explaining how to sketch gases graph and I came to this part where they had to sketch a y = k type of graph. I think I was describing something like sketching pV vs P for a fixed mass of gas at constant T so since pV = nRT, if n, R and T are constants, then what is pV equal to? I actually had something lame prepared already so I turned towards my student and said, "Constance!" LOL. It was like OMG lame. =D

Lab with 10S103 - Super hilarious. Started with me suanning them cos many of them didn't have their lab manual with them. During the session, I wanted to show them a demo so I told them to come to the front and those with lab manuals are to bring them. For the next 5-10 seconds there was barely any movement and I was like, "What? Hello? Why isn't anyone moving?" They all gave me this innocent look and said, "I thought you said only those with lab manuals come to the front?" I was like, "Duh! I said EVERYONE come to the front. IF you have your lab manual, then you bring it along." Then they burst out laughing at the miscommunication and started moving. During the demo for preparation of a standard solution, I entertained them with my usual repertoire of "cooking show" and telling them not to do the bartender style of shaking the flask. During the dissolving of the salt part, I burst out laughing at the little amount of salt and again there was a chain reaction cos I think that's the first time they heard me laugh like that. =p

The lab itself was very funny also and there were a few incidents of people dropping their glassware and I commented, "Oh, that sounds expensive!" Some of the incidents were false alarms but when something really broke there were some busybodies and I said something like, "Aiyoh, why are you all so kaypoh? Go back and do your work!" Then there was a shortage of chemicals near the end of the session so I was joking, "Who is the UNSCRUPULOUS person who took more chemicals than you're supposed to?"

Wed - Had HRD Elective in the morning and many of the chem teachers opted to go for this Chrystal workshop which was pretty good and we learnt about energising the class and disciplining students through a variety of strategies.

Was running late for tutorial with 10S103 after our meeting so I ran to class and some of them were there already and someone was joking at how eager they are to be in my lesson that's why they're so early and they asked me why I ran. I explained that since I set the rules about punctuality, I better not be late or else later I might be asked to stand at the back of the class. =p I also joked with them about my eagerness to teach them the beauty of chemistry.

Had our AAR for 2009 A Levels in the afternoon and I didn't realise how well we had actually done until the significance of the results was all revealed to us. In a way I was really motivated by the results and I think that's why I have a lot of drive this year to push the kids. A few of my friends said I'm very seow on (even more so than last time) and I feel that I am also, in terms of the things that I'm doing but I'm happy doing the things I'm doing for now. Just hope that I have enough time and energy to do everything that I want to and still maintain a work-life balance. =)

Went out for dinner at Espirito Santo at Parkway Parade which was quite a nice cosy place serving various kinds of meat. Had pork belly, pork knuckles and steak and my fav was the steak cos it was really tender. It was awesome!

Thur - Had Council meeting in the morning and we all played along that we forgot one of the TA's birthday (though it didn't really work cos we did it before already haha) then did admin work till lunchtime when we celebrated our TA's birthday. It was quite an elaborate setup with some of the TAs decorating the meeting room (with banners that we used for the last TA's birthday - they used the reverse side! LOLOL!!!), some cooking food and I prepared Powerpoint slides with a special birthday song as well as pictures of a monkey and the TA cos he LOVES monkeys. Then we hid in the meeting room behind a sofa, each of us holding a monkey soft toy until he entered with another TA (who tricked him by saying the OM wanted to meet him) then burst out to celebrate. Really like school kids hahaha but it's fun! =p

Chrystal - Part 2 of creating a personal vision and in the morning I collected a lot of their Chrystal journals to compile their drafts and they were amazed that I typed out every single thing about their strengths and answers to certain questions and I explained I wanted to know more about them because if I am to write their testimonials, I would want to write something truthful so I want to start early and guide them towards what they desire. It was interesting looking through the various descriptions so that they could try guessing who fits the description and also for them to see that actually some of them have the same aim (e.g. to enter into business). I appreciated that quite a few of them did write out something meaningful so that I can work on them cos there were, not surprisingly I suppose, some who just wrote for the sake of writing and you can tell there's no desire in wanting what they've written.

Somebody commented that it was quite funny that I even included the emoticons when I typed out what they had written and I said that it's important to me to know how the person is feeling what he/she wrote that. I explained also that whenever I send out smses I make it a point to include emoticons or at least exclamation marks if I'm happy/excited to convey the right tone. I told them it doesn't mean that when I put a smiley face I'm really overjoyed and am smiling from ear-to-ear (I gave them a funny face when I said that to make them laugh) but really it's just so that I don't sound very cold towards my recipient.

Fri - Start of Council Training Camp! First time I actually attended a camp and it was interesting! Started off with some ice-breakers and team-building games then it was our 1st TA Time which was a new segment to allow the TAs and Council Elects to mingle and share our views. Started off with our vision of the council and each of them were given a picture and asked to explain how that picture represented council and leadership. Thought that was quite fun and cool then we all shared our vision of what council meant to us, which was meaningful to me. =)

Had dinner after that then it was my segment, the Fast March. As we went to meet the councillors to get ready to set off, we saw a lot of the 6th SC councillors turn up to give their support - thank you! =)

So off we went and it was really hot and stuffy outside and we took a really long route to get to Pasir Ris Park before we started our 1st activity, which was some water game. I felt there were some flaws very early on already with the activity and I gave my feedback and discussed with the kids but I left it to them in the end cos I didn't have time to change it and I also wanted to let the councillors in charge have some say in it since there are no serious repercussions anyway if the activity was not perfect. I think in the end, the IC realised there was room for improvement and they did manage to have some teaching point (though it was unplanned) so it was ok.

2nd activity was interesting for me but took way too long so we'll know how to improvise it next time. I liked the activity cos of the meaning in the activity and it really forced the councillors to work together and dig deep.

3rd activity was the one I thought of cos I wanted something simple but meaningful. I think because of the activities they went through earlier in the day and during the fast march, somebody actually realised the aim already and proceeded to lead the councillors to the best outcome which was good because I wanted them to learn to share the burden.

After that it was really late and the councillors were moving really slowly esp. with the stretchers activated cos there were 19 girls and 6 guys so we changed our plans of going to Sunplaza Park and headed back to MJC directly. Got back to school at about 1.40a.m. and by the time we had our quick debrief, bathe and everything it was almost 3+am for bedtime!

Sat - Slept till about 8am before proceeding to look at the kids doing morning PT then went to get some work done. Was quite hands-off today cos they were doing things like Wet Games and Proposal Writing so I only met them during the TA time and nearing the end of CTC. Many of us were catching up on sleep cos we were very tired and some were falling sick. At the end of the camp, each of the TAs made a little speech, which was not planned for so I had only a few minutes to come up with something coherent (I'm not really comfortable speaking under certain circumstances, as much as I seem comfortable when I'm teaching and performing).

Some of the kids were shouting "Cry! Cry! Cry!" cos the TA before me was sharing her emotional experience as a TA and I said something like, "Real men don't cry" and how I've tried not to cry ever since 7 years ago when I cried over some personal matters and being stronger for the experience. Regretted a bit though cos I could sense some disagreed with what I said and in a way I also don't totally agree with myself (that's why I prefer writing - I get more time to reason out my feelings).

Anyway I started off telling them that I usually prefer writing than talking and then shared with them a random thought that came in my mind as I was traveling. I asked, "What do you get when you add lamb to porridge?" They were all stunned when I said, "You get LAMB ZHOU (pronounced in such a way to sound like LAME JOKE)" but quite a few got the joke. Personally I thought it was pretty hilarious, esp coming from me hahahaha. Some of them said that my fellow chem TA has a competitor for cold jokes already haha. =p

Moving on, I shared with them my life as a student and a teacher in terms of the CCA I chose and how different it was to change from something like Chess Club and IGC to Students' Council because it was so different and also because there was so much more work involved but I believe it's worth it cos it's meaningful work and you get to work with the best. I also spoke about the many things that I've already learnt during my short stint as a Council TA and the things I've enjoyed, such as hearing my fellow TA speak because I appreciate the wisdom of his words. In closing, I wished the 7th SC well and encouraged them to find me for consultation though I may not know all of them well and sang a chem song for them for entertainment (which led to some TAs joking that CTC is Chemistry Training Camp haha) and also encourage the 8th SC to join me in my learning journey and that I look forward to getting to know them better rather than just knowing their names.

T2 W2 (Mon) - H1 Lec - Had a pep talk with the cohort after the disappointing test results last week and in my pep talk I used an analogy and said that the reagents to getting an A for H1 Chem at A Levels is their effort, their intelligence, our effort, and a little bit of luck. Then I said, "Regarding our effort, it is in large EXCESS and the LIMITING reagent is your effort". Some of them laughed to that as they appreciated the humour behind my sarcasm and somebody asked about "our intelligence" to which I said, "Needless to say, that is also in large excess". =p

Tut with 10S103 - Some kid kept saying that she was hungry and I said that at least they could eat after the tutorial but I had to attend lecture then she made fun of me at the end of tutorial by proclaiming that they were going for lunch and asked me to enjoy my lecture. Funny sia haha =p

Met our EXCO Nominees to share with them regarding our new project called "8th SC Presents" and got them to choose their IC-ship for the various parts of the project, such as fund-raising event, getting suggestions and feedback, council maintenance and council T-Shirt and MJ Roar (our events board).

Wed - Had Chrystal workshop again in the morning and one of the funniest part was when we did this survival quiz and we each had to choose an answer then convince the others in our group that this answer was correct. It was really interesting and some of them apparently have been watching a lot of shows which teach them survival skills. There was one question asking us how to judge if something can be eaten and most of us chose something like observing if a bird eats it and is ok then we'll eat it too. Turns out that seemingly logical answer was wrong and someone joked that after eating, we see the bird drop dead and then we scream "Aw, you bird-brain!" Super crappy! Then another question was about the colour of the flame in your tent which signals danger and somebody joked that red is dangerous because it means our eyes are bleeding! Lol so much nonsense!

Oh, we also had this activity called "Last Word" where each person had to say something linked to the last word said by the previous person. So we tried to see how we could use it for a protein chemistry and the funniest part was when someone ended with "amide bonds" and then the next person said "Amide bonds are also known as peptide bonds". LOL! So cheaterbuck lah! We all laughed like crazy!

Had Council Meeting and we briefed them about our new event as well as a tour of the council store, which really had a lot of things and was pretty messy that's why we need some council maintenance and also try to sell some of the stuff away to help raise funds for the students' lounge since it's killing two birds with one stone!

Met up with Ain and Jonathan for dinner at Bugis and we ended up in NYDC. The food took soooo long and sad to say, Ain says I look haggard. Oh man, I really must find more time to sleep! That's prob the main reason for looking older! Anyway, good to hear that she's doing reasonably well in NTU. Will prob get a 2nd upper comfortably at least!

Thu - April Fools' Day and I suppose you can't escape from a prank on a day like this. Turns out that my CG had something in store for me but I missed part one of it cos I was too busy setting up my laptop for our Chrystal lesson. They were actually hiding in an adjacent classroom and waiting for me to call them so that they could surprise me! But I kenna part 2 where someone pretended to be ill (and did look quite sick indeed) and then came back looking like she wanted to throw up. In the end she "threw up" some toilet paper and as I opened it I saw the words "Happy April Fools' Day Mr Lau!" and I was screaming "I knew it! I knew it!" Seriously, I suspected something already but I followed along haha. =p Anyway they took a video of the thing and apparently my shirt was tucked out -.-

During Chrystal, I decided to share with them my draft of my personal vision cos I still had quite a few who haven't done it despite my efforts to teach them so I decided I had to Model The Way. I got them to guess what they think would describe my vision and I also shared with them as I went through my vision what drives me so I actually took out some of the cards that I received from students over the years and read out to them some of the lines that touched my heart and continued to fuel my passion for teaching. Then I told them I would refine my draft and email them by the afternoon to show that it is important to share their vision with others so that through their comments they can refine their vision. After that I went into the lesson on setting goals and shared with them my army experiences and how sometimes you must be put through tough times to realise the latent potential in you and to achieve things that you never believed that you could before. I mentioned something about being put through the grill and gave some funny hand action to simulate it to entertain them. =p

After that we had a really fun time during their self-study with some class bonding playing all kinds of retarded but very fun games like taking idiot quizzes about crosses, pineapples, staircase, church, room with a tap, "I know! I know!", "Johnny Woosh" (which I still don't know the secret), "What number is this?", amongst many others. It was so funny cos I was sitting down doing the idiot quiz and like the whole class was staring at me and I joked that I felt pressured and I can understand how they feel when I look at them doing their test. =p I felt that many of them really bonded so hopefully that would help them to be closer cos to me I feel that class spirit is really critical in getting them to do well, based on my experience over the years.

Fri & Sat - Went with a group of 12 to Kukup and most of us were our MJC Chem teachers. It was a really fun trip and a short and relaxing getaway. For $84 we had transport to Kukup, a night's stay (3 room and 1 hall and dining area outside), and 3 seafood meals (2 lunch and 1 dinner), which I thought was really good. Spent almost the whole time playing mahjong there and it was fun! Super exciting almost all the way with ppl making big hands almost every single game. Quite insane I must say. At the moment we're planning to go Batam in about a month's time so hopefully things will go to plan. Looking forward to another enjoyable trip!

Looks like I don't have enough time to finish everything but hopefully I can catch up on it soon! Only 2 more weeks of stuff to update! =)