CAMP! CAMP! CAMP!

Salutations everybody. Since some of you have been demanding for a new post, I will write one down about the camp. Besides, there are plenty of photos of the camp I want to upload. I'll write an account about the camp first, then post the pictures. Long post ahead, eyes be warned.

P3 Camp 2008

The day started with all Lasallians assembling in the halls in their classes. I walked in to the hall and as usual, 3G greeted me enthusiastically and I returned the greeting just as enthusiastically. Everybody was in PE T-shirts and either shorts or long pants.

Not all of them were excited about the camp because it would be their first night away from home. The classes were then re grouped into Groups 1 - 15. It was a messy grouping with the Gs being in various groups! I was in charge of Group 12 which had several G girls. I was glad to be at least in charge of some of the Gs. The rest were Fs.

Our camp facilitator was a teenage looking guy called Rasyid but insisted on being called "Crispy" for some reason. Group 12 seem to enjoy calling him "Monkey" though. I do admit, he sort of behaves like one, with all that jumping about and howling with laughter! We shared the bus with Group 11 whose camp facilitator is a Chinese name I forgot already. But her underlings called her "Round Mountain".

Wow, the trip there was ever so noisy! Crispy and Round Mountain were very energetic and exchanged jokes with the Lasallians. My G girls were of course packed full of silly jokes which I had to suffer through when I was with them (-_-") So they wasted no time in telling them to a very stumped Crispy.

The camp facilitators had funny names. One was called "Potato". He was the most gungho and popular one from what I have observed.

When we reached the campsite, Chief Mojo addressed us. He was a big man who commanded the whole P3 level impressively. No one dared to talk when he was standing at attention.

The P3 teachers, Mr Indra, Ms Bavani, Mr Calvin Tan, Ms Han Huaxiu, Mrs Amy Ng, Mdm Mary Wong and Mr Gavin Lee were all there, including extra teachers like Ms Mellissa Chan, Mrs Rosie Hoh, Ms Duan Yarong, Mrs Iris Ooi and of course, there was me!

The teachers did not participate much in the games and cheers and only observed from afar to ensure that everyone was safe and accounted for.

The camp was mostly about cheers. Lasallians learned a lot of cheers and games which taught them how to work as a team and trust each other. I walked to all the games where the Gs are and tried to snap photos. But then most of the girls were camera shy and those who were willing to be in my photos were the ever present Bryan and Shawn.

Speaking of Shawn, I was surprised to see Naveed and Shawn show such impressive leadership and showmanship when they led the cheers together with Potato in front of over 200 Lasallians! I was proud that G boys were up for that task. It took nerve and courage!

We had lunch and dinner at the campsite. Ashley taught me how to play this game where you have the aeroplane, person and rock which Lasallians from all over the school have been playing. When I finally understood it, Gs were screaming at me and demanding me to play with them just because they knew I was a beginner and were eager to defeat me!!! (-_-") Nonetheless, I complied and lost to many Gs. I remember winning to Skyler though :D

It was a great bonding experience for me with the Gs. Though I did not participate with the games or cheers, we had time to talk, play and of course the girls were endlessly teasing me.

When it came to wash up time, it was quite chaotic. I went to take a look at the girls' washing area and was surprised out of my mind to see a large number of girls bathing together and laughing and shrieking. I was surprised only because I've never seen that many girls bathing at once! :D I did not go to the boys' washing area because I feared seeing some of them without any clothes on.

When washing up time was over, the teachers were dismayed to find so many underwear and T-shirts left lying around. We were given the long task of collecting underwear and T-shirts... (-_-") I shudder thinking of all that underwear. A whole big pile of them!

At night, we had something called the Blind Man's Walk. This particular game scared some of the Lasallians because it involved being blindfolded and taken to other places far away. I thought it was quite interesting. I teased some of the G boys while they were blindfolded. They knew immediately it was me. The G girls were all grabbing on to me and calling my name whilst they were blinded. It was quite funny to see them calling my name when I was quite far away from them.

The day ended with another bus trip where I sat near Jojo and Divya, and Darren and Alex. Darren's glasses were quite dismantled so I had to borrow tape from Jolyn and tape it back. Like Harry Potter's glasses. I did not talk much then because I had motion sickness. I do hate buses!

We assembled in the hall and had more cheers. Several parents came to take a look. One parent actually bought four boxes of durians for us teachers to thank us! Thank you!

It was a long day. Lasallians were visibly very tired and sleepy. We had some closing cheers and then the girls slept at the P1 classrooms while the boys remained in the hall. The teachers were in various parts of the school.

I know some of Gs said they did not enjoy the camp, but all around, I saw smiling and laughing faces of the Gs and I was content knowing that that meant they at least had a certain measure of joy and laughter during that experience. I was glad I was there too, to be able to be with the Gs before I leave next week on Wednesday.

Now here are the pictures!

"I Wonder What's Happening" As you can see, the girls were ridiculously camera shy! I got a shot of Fernanda only because she didn't realise I was taking photos. This was during a walk from campsite one to campsite two.

"You Better Give Us Food Or We Will Eat You" Starting from right, anti-clockwise direction, Skyler, Paul, Fabien, Warren, Travis, Bryan and Wen Xin. These boys loved to be photographed. Especially the Buttman.

"HAHAHAH" Left to right, Anne, Sze Kaye, Nikhita, Shu Yi and Jie Ling.

"Wey, You Block My Pretty Face" Left to right, Pei Xuan, Fang Qi, Sindhuja, Song Lin and You Xuan.

"Take My Photo Must Pay Wan OK" Fernanda, Kim, Jolyn and Gina.

"Ms Hidayah, I Think I'm Melting" Ok, this one is kind of funny because Denzel was telling me a long and sad story about the weather being too hot and he was dehydrating and I snapped his picture.

"OK Never Mind" Then he realised I was snapping his picture and stopped telling his sad story and posed with a smile!

"The Weather Is Too Hot But I'm Still Smiling" Han Seng

"I Am A Pretty Ballerina But My Friend Ran Away" Fang Qi, Song Lin and Anne.

"2 x 4 = 8, Therefore Two Boys With Four Fingers Showing Must Have Eight Fingers Altogether" Bryan and Shawn

"Ryan, You Better Not Let Go" Ryan and Warren.

"Shu Yi Is Very Photogenic, Even Camp Facilitator Farhana Is Mesmerized!"

"I Am Not Like Other Girls, I Am As Pretty and Photogenic As Shu Yi So Take My Picture Ms Hidayah" Gina

"Oh Alright, You Can Take Our Pictures But We're Not Going To Smile For You" Sindhuja and Song Lin.

"Wait, Ms Hidayah, I Haven't Thought of A Good Pose Yet" Philip, Mark, Naveed and Skyler.

"Nikhita, I Think I Dropped My Shoe" Shu Yi and Nikhita

"Mark: Again?!"

We had a gorgeous sky in the evening.

It was like the clouds were on gentle fire.

"P3 Teachers Are The Coolest Teachers In DLS"

"Ms Hidayah and Mrs Amy Ng Are The Coolest Teachers In P3"

"Eh, Where Are We?" Some girls I don't know.

And to end it, here's a picture of blindfolded Ad'n! "I Wonder What's For Dinner"

I am deeply sorry if your picture is not here. The day was hectic and these are all the pictures I could take. It doesn't mean I didn't try to hunt you down for your photo. Either you were camera shy or you were in a group I didn't see that day.

More pictures to come for the party on Friday!!!!

About the party, it's not anything big since we only have two periods which Mr Lee has kindly given us. I got us pizza, cake and some tarts. It's just a time I want to spend taking photos and hanging out with you guys. See you on Friday!

The Last Period... Ever.

Good evening my young ones!

We met only for slightly more than one period and I was very sad, not being able to teach you anymore.

Today, I had to do the ROAR programme where I have to tell a story to the whole school. I chose Prince Rabbit. At first I wanted to share Animorphs with the school but then it would be such a long story. For those of you who love reading and love animals, Animorphs is a really really good book.



It is about five teenagers who can morph into any animal they touch! They got this power from an alien called an Andalite. There is more to the story than that and it is the most exciting book I've ever read when I was in primary school. Much better than that Mr Midnight which you love to read. It has 54 books in all! #1 all the way to #54 are exciting stories about these teenagers trying to save the world from the evil Yeerks.

Anyway, the first period, we did not do much. I just reminded the class that tomorrow is temperature taking day. I also told you that Mr Lee is not as fierce as you thought him to be. I heard that a lot of you were scared because you heard that he is a fierce and very strict teacher. This is not the case... He is strict, of course. All teachers must be strict. However, he is not that fierce! I'm sure you will enjoy your time with him.

He told me that he gave you a GK question which was, what is the difference between astrology and astronomy? Did anyone get to answer that? That's a pretty hard question for you because I don't think many of you know what astrology is. I'll leave it to Mr Lee to explain.

Even though you have a new teacher who is older and more experienced than I am, I can't help feeling sad that our time together is over...

We had so much fun together.

I certainly hope that you will remember everything I have taught you for life, because that way, I will be in your hearts and you will always be in mine.


I will always check this blog to see if you have any questions for me. You can always drop by and leave a message or even email me, if you want. I'm always here to help you. Remember that.

Respect yourself, respect your parents, respect your teacher, respect your friends, respect your school and country.


Be good, 3 Gabriel. Be the best that you can be.

(AND DON'T SPILL WATER IN CLASS AND FORCE MR LEE TO MOP LIKE YOU DID WITH ME!!!)

See ya!

Finale

Good evening.

This will be my last post for this month or probably this year if Mr Lee is going to take over G immediately after the holidays.

:'(

I will miss you.

Today was the most tiring day of school ever because of the Zoo trip. I felt that we did not have enough time as we had to rush through most enclosures. My favourite enclosure was the Reptile Garden, although we did not get a chance to stay long as we were walking towards the Elephants of Asia enclosure to have our lunch and watch the Elephant Show.

Elephants are amazingly smart. I commented that their art (the elephants were painting) was better than yours and Darren said, Yah lor.

The show was too long, I think. The boys in front were embarrassing because they took out their raincoats and umbrellas when the emcee said that the front row was going to be a 'splash zone'. The girls on the other side were happily cheering. Tsk tsk. The girls are more outgoing!

I did not get to take too many pictures so if any of you have more pictures, please send it to me at nurhidayah.jazuli@gmail.com. Anyway, here are some of the pictures I took:



I tried to take a picture of the whole bus, which was quite a silly thing to do as only the first few front rows were captured. A lot of you brought cameras and tried to take my picture! Everywhere I turned, there were cameras clicking! In my head, I was thinking, "I AM A CELEBRITY."



Fang Qi was trying to take my picture but I shot her picture first! Like in cowboy duels!



We were having a short break at the Jaguar enclosure because the girls were complaining that their legs were going to drop off and the boys were saying they were dehydrated.



The other side of the Jaguar enclosure. Everybody was munching tiredly on their snacks even though not even a quarter of the journey has been covered!



I know it is a bad picture. I could not go further back as I would fall into the water and then the elephant would have to lift me out with its trunk, like a log. Here, the girls were relieved to get another lunch break and were chatting and joking with each other. If you look very closely, you can see Shu Yi's head as she rushed to get into the frame. Unfortunately, she was blocked by Dawn... Gina's face was also eclipsed by Nikhita's hand.



I love this picture! Everybody looks so happy! If you look closely, you can see a portion of Alex's head hidden behind Leeroy.



Since the previous two picture was badly taken, I tried again and this time, Travis, Ivan and Dylan can be seen. The girls were very tired but they chatted non stop.



"HAHAHAH"

Xiao Ting's SpongeBob cap was cool, but not as cool as Leeroy's cap which has his name written across in elegant script! Why was Sze Kaye laughing? I don't know...

We went around the Zoo for about an hour more until we were pushed to the limit. I was pleased to see a lot of you taking notes diligently and drawing some excellent sketches. The bus ride home was very quick.



Back in class. Everyone was so tired that the moment you reached your seats, you lied down. I managed to get only one shot of group Courage because they were nearest and I was too tired to get out of my seat, just like you all were.

It was a difficult day as water ran out very quickly and I had to give up my water ration to Alex, Naveed and some others. It was grueling for the Gs.

The rest of the day ended briefly with us going through some of the more uncommon animals which we encountered like the Cassowary, Gibbon, Meerkat and Wallaby. It is good to know that your mental library of animals has widened.

After that, I announced my departure from DLS in July. What happened afterwards was difficult to describe so I shall not describe it. A lot of you wanted to take my photo again and also my autograph. Once again, I thought "I AM A CELEBRITY."

At the end of the day, I was sad because it was the last day of school and I will not see you for a whole month. Even after the school holidays, it is not certain as to whether I will be able to resume teaching you as Mr Lee is eager to start. Anne said something like "Goodbye Miss Hidayah! Maybe forever!" at the end of the day, which made me feel sad, even though it is not true!

We had really great moments throughout the semester, 3G and I. Each and everyone of you had a positive impact on my life and I have learned a lot from you. You are my pride and joy! Groups Courage, Hope, Wisdom, Joy, Effort and Love! I hope I leave you with a little bit of each when I go! I will never forget Year 2008! 3G Lasallians! This is the year of The Forty-Three Geniuses and Miss Hidayah.

Mr Lee is a good teacher and he will make sure you will be at the top of your game. (Meaning, always at your best.)

FAREWELL, 3G!!!! It's been fun!

:)

:(

This is my last post.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ASHLEY, my beloved class monitor!

May you stay funny, clever and talkative always :D We all adore you!

Sort Of Last Day

Reminders:
Zoo Trip
Be in school by 8.45 a.m.
-Bring
--Water bottle
--Snack
--Biology Book
--Stationery
--Umbrella/Raincoat/Poncho
--Camera (optional)
For those who are not coming with us to the Zoo, be in school at the normal time and assemble in the hall.

School day
-Bring your mother tongue books only as there will be no other lessons.
-School will end at 5 p.m. on Friday so if your parents pick you up, please tell them to pick you up at 5 p.m.
-Hand in your report books (For those whose parents did not attend the PTM)
E-learning
-Log in by 1 p.m. on Thursday to do P3 online lessons and quizzes.
-The website is http://primary.asknlearn.com


Today was the last day of school. (Sort of)

This is because tomorrow, there is the Parent Teacher meeting while Friday will be mostly spent at the Zoo!

I cannot type too long today as I need to rest for tomorrow's full day of meeting from 7 to 5 p.m.

We did not have much time for anything today as I had to give out the report books and also arrange the tables for the PTM tomorrow. The best thing about today was announcing the highest marks in the level. The highest in English, Math, Chinese and Malay are all from our classes! I feel very proud as a G teacher.

English : Xiao Ting (Anne)
Chinese : Gina
Math : Paul
Malay: Ad'n

After that, we had General Knowledge session. Here are pictures of a leopard and a cheetah:





See the tear streaks on the cheetah which I told you about? Beautiful cats, aren't they?

I have to go get some rest now. Will blog again tomorrow to tell you about the Parent Teacher meeting! See you on Friday!

BGR

I am typing this as fast as I can because I just reached home. Today was a lot of bad luck for me because just now, I got locked out of the house and had to wait two hours for my sister to come home!

Tuesday, as always, was boring. We had patrol as usual with the most number of patrol people to date. The patrol girls and boys were frustrated because, mysteriously, the door of 3 Bernadette kept opening after being closed by them. Whoever sneaked out of that classroom was very quick. Tomorrow I must get our fastest member, Sze Kaye to patrol that area.

Then we did English activity book corrections and also finished our Longman up until Unit 3.

I wanted to give the gifts to the winners of the Scrabble competition but realised with a shock that the gifts ran out after I gave some to the P4s.

Before school, I read your journals and was very amused. You write such funny things about your worst and best experiences in school! One of you wrote about how you really like this girl in class but then was really sad because I said that you are all too young to have girlfriends. It's true!

I know a lot of boys 'like' certain girls in class. I don't mind you 'liking' each other BUT... Boys, you get really annoying about it. For example, a few days ago, one of you went to Jolyn and said, 'Eh, do you know that **** loves you??!!' This is not the first time Jolyn has this kind of 'attacks'. Not only Jolyn. Anne and Sze Kaye also has these kind of 'attacks' from you boys. There are also some other girls with admirers which I will not reveal here because it is not publicly known.

Anyway, boys, it is very embarrassing and annoying for girls to be told that someone 'loves' them so loudly like that! Stop doing it!

Most importantly, don't be so distracted by the girls! If you put in more effort in trying to be friends with them and not trying to get them to 'love' you, the class won't be in such a chaotic state with some boys claiming they have eight girlfriends. (You know who you are.)

Anyway, if you 'like' someone in class, the best thing is not to tell the person as it will embarrass and annoy them. You may tell your close and trusted friends or even me and I will keep it a secret if you tell me to. But do not make such a big deal about it and do not get too distracted by the person you 'like'!

You are nine years old! This is NOT the time to have girlfriends and boyfriends OK!

See you tomorrow.

Great Power

I guess no one read my message on the cbox saying I won't post on Friday. Yesterday, I was home very late.

Anyway, what is all this Magician, Archer, Warrior, Grim and Trickster business on the cbox. I know for a fact that it involves you Gs so I will let you play your own game on the cbox but don't go thinking you have fooled me because it is too obvious who you are. (Even Grim) And please, no death threats. It is silly and childish.


Friday was fun! We had a Scrabble competition and everyone did very well. The best group was You Xuan's group who worked together very closely and came up with killer combinations with triple word scores! I am puzzling over how you're all so good at Scrabble but cannot maintain full marks for your weekly spelling exercises...

Classroom judging will be on Wednesday but brainy Bry said, 'Miss Hidayah, didn't you know that they just choose a different class every time and we might not win no matter how good we are?'

This crushed my spirits for a second but I refuse to believe it! We are too good to not win. Even if we don't win first place, I still know for a fact that our class is still the best decorated and that is enough for me and for us.

The Zoo trip is coming soon on Friday! I am dismayed to see so many negative reactions when I said some of you will help some other weaker students from the F and H class. I thought being smart and thoughtful Lasallians, my Gs will be more that willing to help out the Fs and the Hs. It's really selfish of you, not wanting to share your knowledge with them!



SPIDER-MAN's Uncle Ben said, with great power comes great responsibility. Basically it means that if you have something other people don't, it is your responsibility to share it with them or to help them because that's what heroes do.

Do you know Peter Parker (SPIDER-MAN) was a teacher for a while? I think he chose to be one because he is following what Uncle Ben said. He has great spider powers so he became a super hero, and he has great intelligence so he chose to become a Science teacher.

OK, see you on Tuesday. Have a great weekend!

And Elroy, your game hand blister is still recovering! Don't play too many video games!

Short Post: The Future Is Now!

Just now, we designed our own innovative buildings. Here are some architecture designs that the world might see in real life, in the future:









The future is now!

Art periods.

Christine had a building with an umbrella on it, with circular windows.
Shu Yi drew an evil looking building with a lot of weapons and the word 'DOOM' across the page. I never knew Shu Yi could be so evil...!
Anne had the silliest idea of a duck building. Not just any duck but a duck with an apple in its mouth! She said the duck is a train station. Maybe one day SMRT will allow Anne to redesign our MRT stations into ducks.



Mark had a rocket ship. Kind of like a hotel in outer space. He even drew planet Earth and it looked really out of this world!

Ad'n, an Art Club member drew this really nice looking human body building and he coloured it really well. It must be because he is in Art Club and has all the skills.

Just now, Wen and Anne did flag lowering. It looked so cool having Gs doing important tasks like flag lowering. Anne was lowering the Singapore flag while Wen was standing behind the prefect lowering the school crest. Both did well.

What a long day! That is all.

See you tomorrow.

Decor

Reminder:
Hand in all SA1 papers tomorrow
Hand in all exercise books and activity books tomorrow


The analytical and observant Jolyn wrote this in her blog:
In class,I found out that Queen changed her waterbottle.It was pink in colour and you can suck water out.I was thinking,"Miss Hidayah like waterbottles that you can suck." She lost her white waterbottle(which can suck)and hate the pink one that cant suck.

I find this very funny!

It is true of course. I got a new Adidas water bottle because my white one was stolen when I left it in the classroom. I have a pink one with a metal cap but that one, like Jojo said, cannot be sucked so I was unhappy with it. If anybody dares to steal this new one, I will CRUSH them!!!



(Just kidding.)

That's Sakura from Naruto.

Today was kind of fun. We spent the time decorating the class within three periods. It was successful. All the groups did a beautiful job.

There was a change in seats which caused a lot of unhappiness among the Gs but they had no choice but to follow my orders. Such is the burden of making tough decisions...

Our new monitors are, Bryan and Ashley. I picked Bryan as a candidate because he is outspoken and can be firm, if needed, even though he is a noisy fellow. Ashley is a sensible girl, despite cracking the lamest jokes in the world! So lame that it is as lame as Song Lin's and Jie Ling's jokes... Anyway, Ash will make a great monitor. I don't know about Bryan... I kind of have a bad feeling about making the Buttman a monitor.

The new subject reps were also changed. Math rep is Leeroy, English is Nikhita and Science... I don't remember! I have very poor memory when it comes to these little things!

For example, just now, I was in St Christopher 3 classroom and suddenly, Alex popped out of nowhere and said, "Miss Hidayah, you forgot to take your scotch tape." He said it in that gentlemanly way of his. Alex is very gentlemanly to me. Even when he was really clumsy and dropped the scotch tape and had to run after it, he still looked like a gentleman. I wonder why the girls are always complaining about how irritating he is. Anyway, I thanked him.

Then Jolyn appeared at the doorway! She was giggling and said, "Miss Hidayah, you forgot your water bottle." (-_-") I was just about to open my mouth to start the lesson with the Cs when yet another G appeared at the doorway! Shawn! He did not say anything but he held up my red tape with a smile.

The Christophers were all laughing at this spectacle! I sighed.

Back to class decorations!

Group Wisdom was in charge of the library and the cupboards. Yi Hui and Cait helped me out with a giant pair of sunglasses which was well done! Yi Hui and Cait make an unlikely pair of girls because Yi Hui is the neatest girl I know and Cait writes haphazardly, much like scrawls. Cait! How many times must I tell you to improve on your handwriting!

Group Love had the heavy task of the Science board. Fernanda, You Xuan, Dawn and Ryan drew the mammal, fish, reptile and bird for me and it was exceptional! Good!

Group Hope did the Math board. One of them had the idea of making shadowed letters and it looked really cool.

Group Joy did the English board, which was just putting up some exemplary compositions done by Bryan, Dylan, Gina and Professor.

Group Courage put up the puppets. I made them put up Mark's giant puppet near the door so it will greet any visitors with the necessary amount of ferocity and artistry!

Group Effort did the front board. It was well done and I was pleased to see that Shawn could work well with his group members, even though he still keeps his annoying habit of walking around when he is not supposed to! I think Skyler's upset about his seat change. It had to be done, Skyler...

OK see you tomorrow!

Impossible Is Nothing

Assignment:
Conflict Exercise in Health Education

Reminder:
Hand in SA1 Math, English and Science paper by Thursday, SIGNED BY YOUR PARENT.
Zoologist Card is due next Wednesday.

English paper was returned just now. Bad. The highest overall mark is 91, scored by Anne our resident choir member. [Well done, Xiao Ting!]

Our record as a class for Math has improved. We have 100% As! Is it too much if I say I would like us to work for 100% A* for CA2? I think you will all groan and grumble, right. I still think it's possible. I have a lot of faith in you. Even those who had below 80 for Math, if we work hard together, we can achieve this shining target of 100% A*!

Nike says, Impossible Is Nothing.

The day was spent going through the English papers and collecting all your books. The leaders dumped it untidily into our metal cupboard and I was dismayed to see such a high pile of madness when I opened it just now! If all of it collapsed on me at that time, I might have died... Luckily Skyler and Ad'n helped me out. Wisdom boys. Wisdom boys are always the most helpful.

This week, we will mostly be doing English as our activity books are incomplete. We will also be decorating the classroom as the Parent Teacher meeting is on, next week! We must look our best! Although our classroom is already beautiful (we are, after all, the Most Inviting Class on level 2 :D ), we must still improvise!

Today one of the Gs got scolded by Mr Indra. Mr Indra is a fun guy but when he scolds someone, he is frightening! He can be very funny though because he is very Drama, like me.

See you tomorrow!

Return Of The Papers

Assignment
English Activity Book Unit 4, Activity 4 and 5

Reminder
Hand in all files, activity books and exercise books by tomorrow for book check


The Math marks are finally revealed and Mr One Hundred is none other than Mr Grand Point Master himself, Paul Soh! He has been very modest about it. His classmates came up to him and said, 'Wah Paul, you so smart!' and he would say 'No lah...'

Actually everyone in class is as smart as Paul. I guess Paul just works harder this time.

I am very proud of all of you. Half the class scored at least a ninety and above. Plenty of you improved and only a small number did not do that well, with a seventy five and above.

For those who did not do well, do not be too discouraged... I said this so many times. You are smart and quick learners. You just need to work harder, that's all. If your parents give you a hard time about your results, accept it with Courage and listen to them. Promise to do better next time and keep that promise.

I was very sad to see some of you crying over your exam results... It's alright... Just try even harder next time. Trust me, ALL of you have the potential to score as high as Paul. You need hard work! Practice every day! It's not that hard. One hour of Math compared to the hours and hours you spent on video games, is nothing!

Anyway, what a tiring day today was...

First was assembly period. Our very own Elroy had the privilege to perform on stage with a world famous string quartet! He played the cello. Totally cool. The string quartet was spell binding! They played Mozart and Chopin and even Chan Mali Chan! Elroy played Chan Mali Chan. He was pretty good! The cello was bigger than him though...

Anne told me she met a composer during Choir practice. That must've been really cool. Composers are such high and complex artists! I do admire them so.

The rest of the day was spent with you being nagged by me (for those who got below ninety) and also going through both Math and Science papers. The class was unbelievably rowdy. It did not help that I am having a sore throat.

Denzel spilled water in the classroom. AGAIN. His water bottle is officially banned from the classroom from now on. When he needs a drink, he will have to go outside to drink.

Dylan, Travis, Alex, Bryan, Warren, Ryan... (Did I miss anyone?) These boys, seeing that the class is obviously moody from the exam results, volunteered to cheer the class up by dancing in front of the class! It was quite... Interesting. It was a mixture of the chicken dance and the monkey dance and a lot of arm flailing. I merely shook my head in resignation... (-_-")

I will end this with a message to the girls: Be careful when you are in the washroom! Do not get stuck in the cubicles! You know what I mean... ;)

Last note: I just realised I made a mistake with the General Knowledge Question just now. The highest Richter scale ever recorded was actually 8.9 in the Pacific Ocean, and also in Japan. So, Hope does not get fifty points after all. Sorry for the error.

Parent-Teacher Meeting Forms

Lasallians who have not handed in the Parent Teacher Meeting (PTM) form:

Alex
Travis
Philip
Naveed
Aloysius
Warren

Please do so by tomorrow latest! I need to give out the confirmation of times form!

Stain

Hi all.

Sorry for not coming to school on Friday. I woke up feeling very giddy and walked like a drunken person. So I went to the doctor and he said it was because of a slight fever, lack of rest and water. As you all know, somebody stole my white water bottle so I hardly bring any water to class anymore because I really do not like my pink water bottle. So, my day was spent catching up on sleep. I feel much better now.

From Paul's blog, I gather that your relief teacher was Mr Wong. I hope that was fun. I know how dreadful post exams activities can be and how you pray for the holidays to come soon.

He also said there was some confusion about the patrol duties. Why not just stick to the schedule I gave you? The schedule will be rewritten though, to include Gabe.

There are still cases of bullying in 3G. Despite what I have always said about bullying (that it is cowardly and for the weak), you still do it. WHY? I hate to think my Lasallians are weak cowards. I will speak to some of you on Monday. Remember that when you are being scolded, it is for your own good and because I care, and not because I favour certain Lasallians over another.

Those of you who think they might have done something to hurt the feelings of a classmate or a friend, think of what you did carefully and decide why is it that you do it even though you KNOW bullying just means you are weak. The strong do not need to bully anyone.

Don't let bullying be a stain on your young hearts. I will repeat all these about bullying until you understand the seriousness of it.

How do you know if you're a bully? Just ask yourself: Have I done or said anything to purposely hurt someone's feelings? If the answer is yes, then you have been a bully to someone.

See you on Monday.

EXAMS OVER!

One of the first things I said to them today was 'Today... Is the last day of the exams'.
And everyone went 'YAY!!!'

I had the urge to join in with the cheering, but then I am, after all, a dignified teacher and must go against my every instinct to act like a nine year old.

It was a short day. The exam took close to two hours because it was really lengthy. After that, was recess. I forgot all about patrol because I was engrossed with checking your Math paper. Then it was two periods of Art when the class was deafening. Water was spilled THRICE, because Denzel's water bottle broke.

I asked him to throw it away because there is no way that bottle can hold water anymore. But Denzel said his grandmother will scold him and he looked terrified, so I said, OK and endured two more spilled water incidents. In the end, we did not manage to finish our art pieces because the school has ordered us to go to the hall for the last three periods. What a waste.

We watched Annie the Musical, starring Lasallians and Lasallian teachers. I must've watched that musical a hundred times last year. The viewing just now was bad because of the bad sound quality and the very bored Lasallians. The Gs keep running out of the hall to drink from their water bottles.

Anyway, it must be embarrassing for Charmain (Anne's sister) to watch that musical with all her friends laughing at her, when she is the main star Annie.

The day ended quickly. Some girls were hounding me and demanding to know their Math results. Their efforts are in vain because I will never reveal their marks until I am allowed to next week.

See you tomorrow!

One Hundred Is A Beautiful Number

I was very happy after school today because Mrs Ng has finally finished marking your Math paper and one of you had FULL MARKS!!! I was so jubilant (happy) that I wanted to jump off DLS and fly away. I will not reveal who it is but it is a boy. I know all of you will guess that it is Wen Xin but... Sorry Wen Xin, it is not you. The second highest is 98 and it is a girl who scored this mark.

This is the best part of being a teacher. If you're a student, you're only elated when you get high marks but when you're a teacher, your joy is multiplied!

Anyway, to that boy, this is an advance CONGRATULATIONS. You listened to my advice, you avoided your usual mistakes and you made it through! I really did not expect this person to get 100! I feel like hugging you, jumping off DLS and flying away!

OK, silliness aside. Your Math paper was not done as well as I expected but plenty of you improved.

Your English paper, on the other hand, is depressing. I shall not write about it. You will see for yourself.

Science paper will be on tomorrow. Just now, we went through Booklet B of last year's SA1 and also several questions from two books I borrowed from Mr Tan. I don't think I have anything to worry for Science and I hope I'm right, saying this.

We talked a little bit about leeches just now. I could not help fitting in a story about my encounter with a leech since there was a question on it in the book. Dylan was frightened by my story and shut his ears. I didn't think it was that scary... It was just about how leeches can climb using its mouth suction. Maybe I shouldn't have told you... I regretted it a little since some of you were really scared. For all your charm and intellect and bravado, sometimes I forget you are only nine year olds. As for me, I am terrified of leeches! They are horrible creatures!

Doctors may use them for medical purposes but I still find them to be disturbingly creepy.

After the paper tomorrow, we will spend the remaining time finishing our art pieces. I can't wait to see the final masterpiece! It will be glorious.

See you tomorrow!

The Ban

I thought the Math paper was easy. I know y'all going to say, BUT YOU'RE A TEACHER OF COURSE IT'S EASY FOR YOU! But honestly, I tried to look at it from a p3 Lasallian's point of view and I really did find it easy, except for a few questions. There are no questions there (except maybe Question 40) which we haven't done before in the form of another question! Gosh, I hope we do better than our rivals, 3E.

Today was a relief! The last paper is on Thursday. Science. I do believe we are going to ace the Science paper. We went through Booklet A of last year's SA1. I don't know if I want to go through Booklet B because most of the question is on Materials, which is not in our syllabus. I'll decide tomorrow.

There have been no real lessons for quite a while so I'm always puzzling over what to blog about, nowadays. The thief is still at large but I think we scared him off already. It's better that way. I hate to see Lasallians being punished. I prefer them learning their lesson themselves.

Speaking of punishment, one of US got punished by Mrs Ng, Second in Command of prefects, just now. It was very embarrassing. I wanted to give that person a piece of my mind just now but then I knew facing Mrs Ng was already bad enough. I'm sure that person will learn his lesson. It was still embarrassing to have someone from OUR class getting punished publicly.

I suppose I must mention that Eraser Fights are now officially banned from the 3G classroom. This is because, when you finish your work earlier than others, you start your eraser fights instead of checking your work. This ticks me off. Even though your eraser fights are mostly quiet, it is distracting and pointless and it hinders you from doing your best. The penalty for having eraser fights is instant confiscation. I just confiscated two erasers just now.

They will get it back. Eventually.

The nearer the holidays are, the rowdier the class gets. This will not last long. When you get your exam papers back, I predict a LOT of stress and fear. I know a lot of your parents have very high expectations, as do I. So don't dream of carefree post exam days. Some classes will watch movies and stuff like that. Not THIS class. We've still got a long way to go before we can sit back and "heave a sigh of relief".

Surface

It's Math exam tomorrow! This exclamation is not an exclamation of excitement but an exclamation of panic! I pray that you have done your practicing and not repeat your same silly mistakes again. The most frustrating thing when marking your work is that, it's not that you can't do the questions, it's just you don't check your work and make a lot of careless mistakes which drives me up the wall!

After the exams, we went through some problem sums and then we had a mock Science exam. In between, since the class demanded for today's dose of General Knowledge Questions, I gave in. Since they just had their English paper, I tested their vocabulary with two words, equestrian and pulchritudinous. Their meanings were correctly guessed by Jolyn and Ad'n, with the help of the rest of the class. Everybody seemed to think that an equestrian is someone who goes on quests and that pulchritudinous means something ugly or foul or bad.

I know why you think that way. Some words in the English language just doesn't sound like what they mean, you know? Like, why does 'food' rhyme with 'foot'? Being someone who creates pictures in my head, every time I eat something and think of the word 'food', instantly, in my head, a foot appears on my plate!

Pulchritudinous just sounds like an ugly goblin with warts (or a dinosaur, said Divya)! But instead, it means beautiful!

Overall, it was a long and tiring day. The class was in their exam mood, which means, they are hyperactive and tend to laugh a lot over nothing. Exams make the Gs quite loony.

The boys are noisy and forever cracking endless lame jokes. The girls... It's hard to say. Some of them are perfect angels while others are little monsters who insist on me listening to their jokes and then laugh hysterically! Jokesmaster Song Lin even brought a giant joke book which she wanted me to read. I declined politely, as I prefer hearing the jokes from her, then to read it.

Outsiders have no idea the diverse personalities of the Gs. While all are incredibly smart and charming, the personalities are all way different from each other.

In the spirit of Science and classification, I have come up with these categories:

1. The Know-It-Alls
2. The Jokers
3. The Serious and Studious
4. The Quiet
5. The Smart Mouths
6. The Drama Kings and Queens
7. The Attention Seekers
8. The Loony
9. The Whizzes
10. The Unpredictables

Which group do you fall under?

I have to go now. I am marking 3E's English scripts.

See you tomorrow!

Pep Talk

My young and impatient friends, I am finally back. I am sorry for not posting on time as a relative of mine was warded in the hospital and coming online was the last thing on my mind. She just had an operation and is fine now, thank God. Also, my brother's friend had an unfortunate accident and passed away on Saturday. I had a lot on my mind after two such horrible things happened over the course of four days (Thursday to Sunday).

I hope all of you have been studying hard over the weekend. My hands are cold right now from worry. I worry not for your Science paper and English paper as you have proven to me that you are very well read and will most certainly achieve a good mark if you bother to check your work (especially your Synthesis).

I am worried about your Math. It is not that any of you cannot do Math, it is just that some of you do not practice enough or do not take your work seriously enough. Why is it that there are some among you who do not take your studies seriously? Why is it so hard to check your work and do your homework?

I do not understand it. You are nine years old and sometimes I wish I was as smart as you are when I was nine. My dreams would all come true if I worked hard enough. But I was blessed enough to have my dream come true. A dream to teach children like you, who may be destined to be the leaders of the country one day.

But you! You are blessed with good brains and good hearts! Do not waste it in laziness! You can do great things!

If your dreams are as big as mine, you must start working now. Practice your Math at least five times a week. Read as many books as you can because in books are where you can find the most amazing things. But don't forget to have fun because even if you have Wisdom, it is nothing without Joy. Even now in my twenties, as an adult, I still take time to watch cartoons, to ride my bicycle, play my PSP and so on. But all that must also come with study and work.

You study because you love knowledge and because you want to be great men and women one day. Not because your parents force you to!

So the next time you think about how troublesome and bothersome it is having to check your work every time and having to study and sit for exams, remember that all your homework and your years in school are like a bridge to a great life of Joy and fun and wonder and learning!

If you don't work hard now, when you are young and smart and full of energy, you will regret it someday, mark my words.

Anyway, that was a long speech. I know you may not understand half of what I just wrote but it will make sense someday.

And Jojo, when I said I'm always here, it doesn't mean I'm online twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week! It just means that when you need my help, just leave a comment here, sms me or call me or come approach me in school, and I will be ready to help you. Silly girl!

So ... Remember my words, my young friends. And like what Buzz Lightyear would say,

To infinity... And beyond!

Post will be up tomorrow.

Disappointment

I have nothing much to say other than, I'm glad we're finally going to take that exam and get it over and done with. We are done with all past year papers and cleared all the worksheets. This Friday, we will be going through everything as revision.

The latest past year paper which we did, Math SA1 2007, was very poorly done. It was not even that challenging at all. You just did not put in more effort in checking! If you say that you did not have time, then you are dead wrong. I gave you more than two hours to complete it and still some of you handed it in to me late. When I was struggling to check the late work just now, you still had the nerve to make noise.

This is the mid year exam. Wake up. Stop playing a fool and start being serious. I know for a fact that ALL of you can do well if only you would take your work seriously. You are all intelligent young boys and girls! If you double check each and every question that you do, you will definitely do well.

Is that so hard to ask for, 3 Gabriel?!

I am very disappointed and upset with you. I have worked very hard giving you extra work because I know as smarter children, you need the extra push. Do the same for me! You work hard too! This is important!

Don't disappoint me, class. Most importantly, don't disappoint yourself, when you know you can do better. Being smart does not mean you don't have to work hard. You have to work harder still.

PLEASE. Once everything is returned to you (files, activity books, exercise books), go through everything and make sure you do not make the same mistakes you did.

Even those of you who have been scoring above ninety all this while. Continue practicing and working to become even better than you are now.

Let's show the school what 3 Gabriel is made of.