heh.. yesterday my class was so funny.. they're the arts class i think? jieying says they're mixed combi. dunno lah. anyway, there're 3 of them running for council (that's why they talk quite a lot and amuse me in the process haha:p) and they all sit in the front row.
anyway, besides that, when i walked into class there were only 2 guys (and a few bags). guys "are we doing essay again today?"
me "no, compre"
looks of horror immediately appear
guy 1 "we must have lunch before 4 o'clock!" (it was 3.50pm)
another guy walks in and asks what's happening
Upon hearing that it's a ... -scary music- comprehension... "oh teacher I have a talk at 3.45"
Another very popular suggestion in my classes "Miss Lin, let's have GP in the canteen"
so I was like, so wat, talk about health food issit?
Yet another attempt to get out of class
guy : Teacher there's a girl crossing the road when the traffic light is red, I must go and save her
girl : really? why?
guy : pretty girl wat
girl : ohhh.. (explanation accepted).
guy elaborates : pretty girl, whether in danger or not, must save
girl : what if not so pretty?
guy : save only if she's in danger
girl : then what about very very ugly girl?
guy : let other people save
hahahaha. okay that isn't a very accurate transcript cos i can't remember exactly what they said.. but it's as close as it gets cos i wrote it down while trying not to laugh
half the class was late coming from geog lesson. girl "can I go and look for them?" guy adds "with our bags?"
2 of the girls "can we go to the toilet?"
me, suspiciously, "you all better come back ah!"
class laughs (i don't know why it was funny actually but nevermind)
girl "there only (points outside) you can come and stand outside the door to make sure we come back"
me "don't be ridiculous.. go go go"
I go back to writing the extra compre question on the board
guy "can I go and make sure they come back?"
girl "can write like in secondary school? The reasons are 1. ... 2. ... "
guy "cannot"
girl "but my secondary school teacher always said must be like that! we asked her.. sure? and she said yes!"
guy, unsympathetically, "no, your teacher bluff you one lah"
okay maybe unsympathetic isn't the adverb but I can't recall the word at the moment:( My vocab is terrible.. it's quite funny actually, I know the feeling of the word but I can't articulate it. I guess that happens after long periods of not-reading-good-books.
yeah. and today, i had a grand total of 6 students in the morning class cos half of them went to watch dance syf or sth. augh. before the other 5 came in, the 1st guy comforted me on the absence of the rest of the class "nevermind la teacher.. take this time to relax"
anyway I shall go shopping later:D time to feel poorer:
owww. i really think i'm fragile. there's some inflammation on my back which is so so painful :( don't even know how it happened. owch. i hope it heals fast. it's quite scary, suddenly feel a knob there and a patch of red.
and i think i'm a very boring teacher!:( augh. and a very lazy one, for that matter. i don't know.. in general it seems like i don't have enough determination to carry out whatever i think of. :( like I'll think okay, this is a good plan, i'll do it later. and i never get round to it. talk about procrastinating! i have a lot of inertia: but when i actually start, and it's "set in stone", i'm fine. i guess that goes for most pple. unless one has a tendency to give up. which i don't, i hope.
which reminded me of that c-vat test i did.. problems with time management. okay, more like problems with realising that time has limits. or realising that i can't do things at my own time (which is almost never, if not given a push, which is bad, cos i'll crumble in uni)
okay. i need to spend more time looking at far distances if not my eyesight will get worse and worse even though i hoped that wouldn't happen. working is bad for the eyesight:(
ah talking to eunice about school reminded me of something today. i got SO annoyed. okay, apparently on wednesdays they dont' open the gate till 3pm. why? so students can't run off from civics. so everyone who wants to leave before 3 has to walk out from the main gate. which is freaking far away.. not to mention it was so hot today. i feel like using a host of expletives but that is unbecoming so i shan't. anyway, so, there i was, at 2.35pm, at the bus-stop gate of nj, trying to argue with the guard to let ME out of the front gate cos i'm a relief teacher. which didn't work, so i tried calling the office. no go either.
walked to other car gate, unfortunately not open either. now, what did i expect? heh. i was contemplating climbing over but remembered jieying's stories about the barbed wire that surrounds the entire school.. so. not particularly viable. stared at the lock and decided i should get my dad to teach me how to pick locks so i don't have to contend with stupid school managements.
absolutely refused to walk all the way across the track, up to the canteen, up to the general office and out of the main gate, esp in the hot sun. (plus after exiting from the main gate, there's still a slope to go down, and another road to walk out, and then walk to the bus stop)
so, i went back to the bus-stop gate and joined the few prc scholars waiting there. absolutely inane. but that wasn't the worse. anyway, while waiting i was complaining to ser. and also staring over jealously at nygh because their gate is right next to the nj gate and it was OPEN. if I'd done pole-vaulting as a cca i would have vaulted myself over (bag, file and all). and one of the scholars suggested to her friends that they should climb the tree to avoid the barbed wire. the only problem being that the branches didn't really extend to the outside of the wall.
wait wait wait. more students appear. guard has to keep explaining that gate doesn't open till 3, and he doesn't have the keys so can't do anything. wait somemore. even more students appear. oh speaking of which, there were students on the outside of the gate who were trying to get in too, and the guard told them to walk by the main gate. so, it was kind of like the berlin wall, pple waiting on both sides to go to the other side.
at intervals i was ruminating on the absurdity of the situation. a bunch of people waiting. which just grows by the minute, while nothing else happens. like hi, it IS possible that those students want to go home and study, isn't that more productive than staying around waiting for the stupid gate to open.. whatever..
in case you think i'm still really angry, no, i'm not, this is just to let off steam. but really, at that time i felt like blowing the school up:p quite violent eh. one wouldn't expect it of little dino clar huh. i guess i get rather fiery sometimes. should learn to tone down. i don't think i used to be that hot-tempered. sigh. anyway, in their defence, the bus-stop gate does usually open at 1pm. and i suppose it's somewhat like rj's old policy of back-gate only opening at 12.30. but again the main gate wasn't that far from the back gate so that wasn't so bad. and i miss the old campus:(
oh dear. i feel a twinge of conscience at posting excerpts (albeit very short ones) of my students' essays. there aren't actually that many funny quotes but well.. my favourite: "teaching doesn't suit me because I'll die trying to manage keeping discipline alive in class." haha. another one wants to own a duck farm next time. it's a most unusual and unique ambition.. and my other favourite: "my favourite food is any food that can be eaten". last one.. "I hate lizards. These four-legged insects never fail to freak me out." I hope she doesn't take bio. haha.
okay. i'm feeling rather battered today.. going shopping for a while later! :D I think it gets tiring feeling thankful for everything sometimes. overdose of gratitude. everything needs to be in balance. at an equilibrium. such a delicate system. I'm rambling.
random thought: was looking at stars on sunday night.. and a thought popped into my mind. I read from somewhere (forgot which book/magazine/was it my own imagination?) that stars are the souls of those who have passed on. comforting to look up and know that they're still watching over you? it depends on the individual I guess. am in no position to judge.
anyway I shall enjoy my few hours at home before I disappear out again. and I'm going to update my bankbook and make sure RJ has paid me. haha.