My Reflections..

Finally, the end of the semester has arrived. After the past 2 hectic months which was filled with assignments, presentations, group work and micro-teaching, I finally can breathe and sleep in peace, without having to think of the next thing to submit or do. I wouldn't mind doing things that are useful to my future teaching. There are some modules and work which I find absolutely redundant. I hate doing things that waste my time and are of no worth. But well, since I'm paid, I just have to do so willingly. Just hope that they will take our feedback seriously and make some improvements to the course for the future batches. Anyway despite those redundant stuff, I generally learnt a lot of pedagogies for the the teaching of English Language and Mathematics.

There are still many things for me to learn to become a more effective teacher. Firstly, my mathematical content has diminished drastically. The Maths test that I sat for reinforced my suspicion, that I'm not as good as I thought. And my English? Well, all I can say is that I'm only proficient in one aspect: Grammar. I suck in other areas like reading, speaking, listening and vocabulary, which is basically everything that is covered in the English Language syllabus. Furthermore, I totally lack creativity. Don't expect to think of games or interesting lessons on my own. No wonder a couple of my ex-students complained that my lessons were boring then. I sincerely hope the money that I invested in those English Language books at Kinokuniya would prove useful.

Besides the lack of content knowledge, my character is proving a hindrance to my job too. I know some of my ex-students perceive me as cold. It takes a long time for me to warm up to my students and show any genuine concern for them. And even when I am truely concerned, I find it hard to express myself and show it outrightly. Maybe right now, it's because I do not have 100% passion in my job. Perhaps it will get better when the actual teaching begins.

4 more weeks before practicum. Although it's the holidays now, I think it's the best time for me to read up and plan ahead. A new friend has inspired me a great deal. She has brains and character. I'm always in awe of intelligent people because I'm hardly one myself. For a start, I really should pick up a something besides the newspapers to read. Just realised that this course requires minimum reading. No wonder I feel that I've become very shallow over the past few months.

Comeback Title..

Martina Hingis captures her first title since her return from retirement.

I am elated.

At least there's something to cheer about after a rather demoralising week.

Hopefully everything ends on a high note.

Seeing Stars..

What the hell. Just when I'm preparing to switch off my laptop, Nadal breaks back. Please lah, Rog. Watching live score for 4.5 hours is no joke. It's well past my bedtime. Can you please hang in there and see off Nadal asap? And why isn't ESPN showing the match live??

In other news, he finally opened his shell after 6 months. I wonder how much guts it took him to say those few lines, even though it's not face-to-face.

Can't wait for this week to fly by. I'll be officially free from assignments and presentations, not including one major test to round off this whole fruitful semester. After that it's tennis, hong kong drama serials, reading, enjoying life before the do-or-die practicum starts.

After leading in the tie-break and giving away 2 match points, Rog blew it yet again. Get lost, Nadal. I hate you.

First Time..

1) ... going to ROM
2) ... having a friend who's getting married (married now)
3) ... giving ang bao
4) ... adopting the leave-it-till-last-minute to do assignments
5) ... realizing that there are more important things to do in life than work
6) ... realizing that I'm very immature
7) ... realizing that I'm addicted to window-shopping
8) ... realizing that driving is stressful (when I know I'll be late for school)
9) ... knowing people from all walks of life
10) ... that I get to vote during the Elections (how exciting)

Female Friends..

Whenver I think I performed relatively well, the results always show otherwise. On the other hand, when I think I screwed up badly, the end result always prove to be the opposite. I am disappointed.

Whenever I write about something that I hope I would be able to attain, something always crops up and ruins everything. I think I shall refrain from writing my wish list from now on. I am superstitious.

After 3 months of schooling, I finally found someone who is similar to me. We share almost the same interests, we use the same brand of pen, we prefer Mathematics to English Language, we stay in the East, our names are almost similar and we come from the same primary school. As a result of our primary school education which focuses largely on discipline and drill-and-practice, we become uncreative people and we absolutely loathe group work. Both of us are also insensitive to the feelings of others and can be sarcastic at times. Another similar trait is that we do not worry over things that are not within our control. (Not sure why, but I absolutely cannot understand why females are always worrying about the most insignificant and uncontrollabe matters.) We also find it hard to empathize with people who are plagued with troubles. Furthermore, we are very particular about grammar, always picking up people's mistakes when they use horrible grammar, be it in speech or writing. We both prefer to have fun, but we are dead serious when it comes to work. Oh, and the most coincidental of all, we are both Sagittarius!

It's quite impossible to be good friends with everyone. A particular friend commented that I seem to be very picky when choosing friends. I'm generally friendly to everyone but I do not feel at ease in forming a genuine friendship with females who are not similar as me. I basically just want to have fun when I'm with my female friends. Having the same background helps a lot. Moreover, if we do not share the same interests, it's virtually impossible to enjoy one another's company.

Now I finally understand why I have so few female friends.