H-3 lectures finished last week and I can finally checked that off my list of to-dos and try to clear work for the year so that I may have a peace of mind when I go for hols
The tense situation in Bangkok brought new worries for the Softball Chiang Mai trip which I already have much trouble with - I have been to Changi Ap 4 times to sort out ticketing issues, trying to get EduS $ from the secondary schools, trying to get hold of my personal contacts in Chiang Mai so that the kids will pay less. Sometimes I think I work too hard on this - I should have throw it to the agency to settle everything for me but then the idealist me rather choose to take the alternative route so that 1) kids will pay less and 2) give work and money to the Thai locals who are having difficulties themselves. I have worked with a Thai translator during my YEP trip last year and the last time when we communicated, the orphanage he was managing was facing a shortage of food and children falling sick. So I was hoping to use this trip to do some purchases for him and orphans.
I guess everything will hinge on the political climate in Thailand.
Anyway that aside, it was ringing wedding bells all over town.
On Saturday & Sunday, it was the wedding of my primary school classmate (she had it over 2 days). With the bride and all those around my table, it was 20 years of friendship and for some of us, even longer.
This group of friends are very special to me, even though I would usually be pretty reticent among them (it is difficult when they start to talk about marriages and diapers). But I appreciated their presence for that shared history and also, they always bring with them a very different perspective of life with their struggles which are often very different from my sec/jc classmates. Life has never been a bed of roses for some of them and very often they remind me how fortunate I am and also that the environment we are so comfortable in school is only a mere fraction of the world out there. I think that is why I want my students to go out there and touch the world beyond their immediate surroundings. As a school who supposedly produces leaders, how do you even lead when you do not know the nature of the majority of your population. If you decide that everyone in school is different enough, think again. Which brought us the question of the Community work we are doing - how much do we know about the client we are serving? Do we know their stories?
Bearing this thought, I am also concerned with the young leaders of these days whether they are lacking the 'person' touch while they run plans with great efficiency as one of my frens divulged after working in the gr-roots for a few years.
Don't keep your feets grounded but your heart as well.
The bride and I lived a few blocks apart and when I told my mum that I will be attending her wedding, she exclaimed 'oh, the one whom you always go to the bookshop with to buy things!'. So many years already and the funny things pple remember. And that's right, both of us used to pool our pocket money together to buy comics like doraemon, dragonball and professor IQ. But she got the better half of the deal because the dragonball books are with her hahah.
And on the funny things pple remember, another cupid had his arrow on my softball mate on Mon and I was seated with his secondary 2 classmates. It was particularly amusing when I realised that I know everyone around the table even though they were from a different class. There was TL, the guy you see on TV for Chinese cri**watch and we used to act in a Chinese drama together, there were JS and T who became my JC classmates, AM - a bigshot these days (apparently) and my JC OG mate, KG whom I have been working with recently and N who, for some reason, I can still remember his name. A lively bunch of pple and all of them single haahah.
But what was equally amusing was when KG remembered funny little facts about me like how I also used to be a 400m runner. No one remembered which race I preferred but in those days to do a full round under a min was pretty rare. Actually, come to think about it, I think I am more notorious than I chose to believe. hahah. Perhaps.
Then again, you realised the different profiles this group of frens held compared to the dinner the day before.
I must admit that after next year, I will be the only single among this group of friends
REthink ReExamine
I went through a series of tests on Friday, staying awake and alert for 6 hours and that is no easy feat. In fact I should rest soon because my vision has been a bit blurred lately - an indication that my eyeballs are really weary enough. But rest will have to wait while I cleared the impending things on my checklist.
Anyway, I just want to say that - Give a smile and tell your tale because you WANT pple to understand and hear your side of the story. That is presentation. I think some of us see the TV newscaster with firm face and the stiffness that comes with the imagined freshly pressed jacket as the ideal model but presentation style can be driven by personality. I like to keep my hands free for gesturing because i find that by gesturing, I am less nervous and I don't have to keep a conscious effort to place my hands in a fixed position since I am usually quite excitable. There is no fixed way to tell a tale but all of us always love someone who is comfortable (think oprah) and hear that WANT in his voice.
I think I used to be super conscious with how I say things or my body language etc becos I hated to stand in front of everyone and make some noises. To a certain extent, I still do but it usually goes away when I WANT to make point or tell a tale.
Just like a sales person. you cannot sell if you dont know your product. When you know your product and want to share about it, talking about it is not the problem anymore.
Yet, sometimes we get complacent because we think everything is in the instruction manual of the product. But who is reading that thick manual? What the sales person say, he/she has to justify and be able to anticipate questions. The best sales persons is prepared for all possible questions and still convinced you.
To me, presentation and the thesis I handed up are two separate things. I always made a deliberate effort to make my slides coherent and be able to justify or comment on the points I have in my slides so that I can defend my thesis. I think a lot of pple forget that and got a little complacent. It may not be able whether you know it or not but whether you have prepared it or not.
Be that sales person who knows your own product which you have designed and toiled over. For those efforts, you want to tell a tale so be confident and speak with that passion. Dun wear that jacket if it does not suit you.
You have a story to tell so do tell.
Anyway, I just want to say that - Give a smile and tell your tale because you WANT pple to understand and hear your side of the story. That is presentation. I think some of us see the TV newscaster with firm face and the stiffness that comes with the imagined freshly pressed jacket as the ideal model but presentation style can be driven by personality. I like to keep my hands free for gesturing because i find that by gesturing, I am less nervous and I don't have to keep a conscious effort to place my hands in a fixed position since I am usually quite excitable. There is no fixed way to tell a tale but all of us always love someone who is comfortable (think oprah) and hear that WANT in his voice.
I think I used to be super conscious with how I say things or my body language etc becos I hated to stand in front of everyone and make some noises. To a certain extent, I still do but it usually goes away when I WANT to make point or tell a tale.
Just like a sales person. you cannot sell if you dont know your product. When you know your product and want to share about it, talking about it is not the problem anymore.
Yet, sometimes we get complacent because we think everything is in the instruction manual of the product. But who is reading that thick manual? What the sales person say, he/she has to justify and be able to anticipate questions. The best sales persons is prepared for all possible questions and still convinced you.
To me, presentation and the thesis I handed up are two separate things. I always made a deliberate effort to make my slides coherent and be able to justify or comment on the points I have in my slides so that I can defend my thesis. I think a lot of pple forget that and got a little complacent. It may not be able whether you know it or not but whether you have prepared it or not.
Be that sales person who knows your own product which you have designed and toiled over. For those efforts, you want to tell a tale so be confident and speak with that passion. Dun wear that jacket if it does not suit you.
You have a story to tell so do tell.
Wrapping The Year
The academic year has more or less closed.
The sadness & the joys were passing clouds that once marked our days.
There were many times when I wished I was better at talking to give reassurances or better advices. But I learned.
There were times when I wished a lecture or tutorial could be better conducted. But I learned - and I think this year's pro and eu is much better than the 1st series which I also lectured and prepared the notes for. More coherence and beauty.
There were times when I felt happy at a job well-done or friends made. I cherished those moments but they were gone too.
It has been an interesting year and I am thankful to my classes B & L for the learning journeys as well as my colleagues who supported me in many ways and once again tolerated my sonic laughter which threatened to bring the whole staff room down.
For the L's, I guessed I did not know I was in the company of two cows, paper, penguin, duckie, tape recorder, mirrors, sea cucumber, cat and seedless grapes to name a few. But whatever we are, we all can eat pizza haha. And I saw the posing power of the girls.
For B's, they were a great bunch too but next year I won't be having some of them in my classes anymore. For that Chang-Er who is flying away, all the best. For the those who needs the extra year, stay focused and keep working, and I hope that you had learnt something from me in this one year and found your footing in life. For the rest, dun drift away. There is still time but you need to focus and learn from mistakes. Haiz... din manage to take a pic with all on the last day.
FOr both classes: the most intriguing part of life and the lesson we really want to impart is not taking on the smoothest paths but to have the readiness to pick up after each fall and to learn from each experience.
And I recalled a comment made in class some time back about making ourselves stand out among the crowd and do something worthy....I went back and thought about it and realised what I really want to say is, I hoped you will challenge yourself to do and experience new things or things you think you want to try or do. Because experiences will allow you to discover yourself and maybe even a passion that you can identify with in life. I don't need my students to stand out but I want them to stand tall.
Ok.. it is back to H3 preparation.
The sadness & the joys were passing clouds that once marked our days.
There were many times when I wished I was better at talking to give reassurances or better advices. But I learned.
There were times when I wished a lecture or tutorial could be better conducted. But I learned - and I think this year's pro and eu is much better than the 1st series which I also lectured and prepared the notes for. More coherence and beauty.
There were times when I felt happy at a job well-done or friends made. I cherished those moments but they were gone too.
It has been an interesting year and I am thankful to my classes B & L for the learning journeys as well as my colleagues who supported me in many ways and once again tolerated my sonic laughter which threatened to bring the whole staff room down.
For the L's, I guessed I did not know I was in the company of two cows, paper, penguin, duckie, tape recorder, mirrors, sea cucumber, cat and seedless grapes to name a few. But whatever we are, we all can eat pizza haha. And I saw the posing power of the girls.
For B's, they were a great bunch too but next year I won't be having some of them in my classes anymore. For that Chang-Er who is flying away, all the best. For the those who needs the extra year, stay focused and keep working, and I hope that you had learnt something from me in this one year and found your footing in life. For the rest, dun drift away. There is still time but you need to focus and learn from mistakes. Haiz... din manage to take a pic with all on the last day.
FOr both classes: the most intriguing part of life and the lesson we really want to impart is not taking on the smoothest paths but to have the readiness to pick up after each fall and to learn from each experience.
And I recalled a comment made in class some time back about making ourselves stand out among the crowd and do something worthy....I went back and thought about it and realised what I really want to say is, I hoped you will challenge yourself to do and experience new things or things you think you want to try or do. Because experiences will allow you to discover yourself and maybe even a passion that you can identify with in life. I don't need my students to stand out but I want them to stand tall.
Ok.. it is back to H3 preparation.
Posts
