My kids make me laugh. Lol.. Found after the first page of one of my grade 2’s composition.. He ended his composition with ‘the end. Thank you for reading!’ So cute!
They really make me laugh! :):):)
May 15th, 2012
I’ve been feeling rather pmsy of late. I can’t think another reason for why so many things piss me off or annoy me.
1) A parent made a police report against a teacher for verbal abuse of his daughter because she said ‘I don’t want to see your face’ to the girl.
Granted, I don’t necessarily agree with what the teacher said, but what the parent did really pissed me off big time. Perhaps Im not a parent and hence fail to fully comprehend the extent of the ridiculousness of the comment, but i honestly don’t even think it was a particularly nasty comment. In any case, even if it was uncalled for and really upset your daughter, shouldn’t the first call of action be to contact the teacher directly to raise your concerns and your unhappiness? And if abd only if the teacher is unreasonable and or recalcitrant, would it be neccessary to escalate the matter to the principal. Personally, i feel that matters should end here. I am actually of the opinion that the ministry should not even entertain every little complaint that parents have. Shouldn’t they have more faith in their principals to deal with the issues appropriately? Unfortunately, parents feel that the FIRST thing they should do when unhappy with a teacher, is it *drumroll* go straight to the police! No wonder the police is so busy if they have to entertain nonsense like this. Others just go straight to the press.
As a teacher to be, I find this phenomenon extremely disturbing. How can a responsible teacher take any proper action if they are constantly in fear of unreasonable parents complaining about anything and everything? I feel that we should trust the judgement and decisions of the teachers more. It is almost impossible to be an effective teacher if one is unable to assert reasonable authority and discipline the class. Of course, even the best teachers a only human beings who WILL make mistakes. Therefore, if there’s anything a parent is unhappy about, I’m sure a responsible teacher will take the time to hear them out and explain their point of view. Parents should then try to understand why a teacher might have needed to say or do something. If what was said or done was really unneccessary or wrong, I’m sure the teacher would also really like to know of they have upset or a hurt a student that they care about. I’m sure a teacher would make a conscious effort not to make the same mistake twice, and also apologize to the student. What’s the point of making such a big fuss out of nothing and going straight to the police?
I just hate how people like to use underhand means to assert what power they feel they should have. People like to use external agencies and the higher ups to pressurize the schools and teachers to give them what they want. Instead of really wanting to right the wrong and help both their teacher and their child, they are just spiteful and want to get the teacher in trouble. perhaps they just want to vent their unhappiness and anger. Is a top down approach in situations like this reply helpful and neccessary? I really beg to differ. No wonder so many teachers just try so hard to protect themselves these days. I just hope I will never end up like that, and that I will dare to make decisions and do things based on my beliefs and what I feel is right. Why can teachers be treated with dignity and respect as they once were?
That being said, I know that not all parents a like that. I really appreciate the nice parents out there. I think it is ok to be demanding, after all, I know parents want what’s best for their kids, I firmly believe that. Surprise surprise, teachers care too! Most anyway. So why not work together? Just please do not be unreasonable. And the first person you should speak to when unhappy is the teacher. Thank you. I mean, if your colleague was unhappy with you, wouldn’t you appreciate them speaking nicely with you than going straight up to your boss? Same logic.
May 5th, 2012
Congrats Adelene & Liam! :)
Attended Adelene’s wedding and finally got to meet the lucky dude! :) (Well, actually it was just the dinner held in Singapore. Her actual wedding was held in Melbourne sometime in April!)
It was really fun helping out, in whatever little way I could. I just can’t describe how happy I feel, watching my dear friends get married. It’s just watching them move on to the next stage of their life, watching them embark on the next chapter with a person they love who loves them back.
It’s amazing because I’ve known the twins for more than 10 years now! Time just flies so ridiculously fast. I can still remember the many times I went to their place to hang out before ballet, or the many times I met them for lunch during their lunch break at work… <3
Ms Ho and I taking photos at the reception desk - duty part 1. :)
It was also a LOT of fun seeing my ballet friends again. Honestly, my table was rowdy beyond words. We were all just very happy for the couple, and we wanted to have fun. We were using our chopsticks to hit our drinking glass (an aussie/western tradition) to get the couple to kiss, took photos with our phones, laughed at my pathetic driving in a carpark skills, and we talked and laughed about everything from children these days (many teachers at the table!), dance, and even traveling! All I needed to do was say that I wanted to go to Sri Lanka for a holiday at the end of the year and all hell broke loose. My ballet teacher and her husband went on and on about how UNpleasant the place was. I think they were kinda high, but the way they described the place was just hilarious. I think, it might have been one of the most fun weddings I have attended. Can’t remember the last time I laughed this much.
Our crazy table with the gorgeous couple! :)
Ballet girls all grown up with our hot ballet teacher! LOL! The lucky bello among the bellas! :):):) Our ballet teacher’s hubby kept getting us to show off our legs and point our toes to take this photo… all the time calling us ‘bellas’ at the top of his lungs!
Finally… a photo with the gorgeous couple. :):) Congrats Adelene & Liam! <3<3<3 I wish you 2 a happy and blissful marriage! Can’t wait for us to have dinner before you 2 head back to Aussieland!
April 21st, 2012
April 17th, 2012
My kids’ group writing final masterpieces that I finally put up today! :) I got them to write about different creatures with shells. Even though it was quite guided, I got them to research the facts about these creatures at home on their own.
Totally made my day putting it up! So proud of them!
If there’s anything I love about this school, it’s these noticeboards that we have outside our classrooms to showcase our students’ work! :)
April 12th, 2012
Not a pretty picture but LOL. I actually did have a grade 2 student tell me his dog ate up his homework. I didn’t know kids really gave such excuses!! He did it with the most pitiful and innocent eyes ever. Oh kids…
(Source: theamericankid, via girlwithalessonplan)
April 11th, 2012
The secret for long relationships is not having a perfect and harmonious love affair. It is not how less often you fight, not because of the number of similarities and the stuffs you both like doing together nor the number of mistakes you did. Those things count but it is the faith that keeps you going. A relationship would last if both of you are willing not to give up, if both of you is willing to stand up and still try every time one of you or both of you fall. You should not lose hope when you are struck with problems along the way. Give each other hope and hold on as long as you can.
(via wordsandlyrics)
April 8th, 2012
Open Door Policy, 19 Yong Siak St
Had lunch with the family here yesterday and I really liked it. After my first failed attempt to visit on a Tuesday (they are closed on Tuesdays!), I was glad to finally get to check the place out.
I enjoyed the food, the nice, laid back, old school meets modern feel of the place… Where we were sitting, the ceiling was just a glass so I could look up to enjoy the sky and the spiral staircase of the old school building. Kinda like alfresco sitting, but with the air-conditioning. The sun was a little glaring at times, but it didn’t bother me too much.
Between the 5 of us, we had the..
- Roasted field mushrooms on toasted brioche with truffle puree
- Papaduck papadum with crusted duck fillets & mint yoghurt dip
- 48 hour cooked braised beef cheek with mochi potatoes, carrot puree and snow pea tendrils
- Roast pork belly with black chorizo cassoulet
- Chilli crab linguini with iceberg & bean sprouts
For dessert, we had coffees and the chocolate and pistachio souffle with english cream. It was a little pricey, but I really enjoyed the meal.
I will be back! :)
March 31st, 2012
:) How true…. hope I’ll find the puzzle pieces that can fit with me! :)
(Source: the-t-loft)
Geocaching, Happy Birthday Nita! :)
So, my roomie introduced the wonderful world of geocaching to me. After 2 miserable failed attempts, Nita and I embarked on a geocaching hunt yesterday.
Our first hunt revolved around a bull in town. However, we quickly abandoned the search for this cache because the bull at said location was no longer to be found. LOL.
We then ended up in McDonalds (as we somehow always do) and ate and chatted for 2 hours! Somethings just don’t change, whatever time of the day, wherever we are, whether it’s one of our birthdays or not! Time just flew by.
Anyhow, we decided to try looking for the next cache… even though it was already dark outside. We ended up looking near one of my favourite places/views in Singapore, right in the middle of MBS, Esplanade, Singapore Flyer, Fullerton… I love that view. We looked for a long time and at first had no idea what we were looking for. We also probably looked really retarded. It really didn’t help that it was dark!
Finally, Nita’s sharp eyes finally spotted what we were looking for. SUCCESS! :)
With our find…
Then off we went to chill by the waterfront at the Esplanade, before heading off to Max Brenner for dessert. :) We were so tempted to head over to another location for another geocache but decided it was too long a walk, and too dark that we probably wouldn’t have been successful anyway. There will always be a next time! :)
The birthday girl with her dessert. :)
My yummy, sinful dessert! :)
Hope you had a great birthday my dearest friend! :):):)
