When I first started teaching, I hated it when I hear people calling my students 'stupid' or 'no hope'. In my eyes, there weren't bad students, only bad teachers who are unable to capture their attention and educate them properly.


No matter what, even if it's during relief teaching, I do not think that any teacher, trained or untrained, should call a student names- names that derogate them to the status of beasts.


When my student called the security guard 'dog', I reprimanded her in front of her friends (despite knowing that she hates losing face) and demanded her to apologise to the security guard. This type of name calling is immature and lame. So what if you're able to call someone a dog. Does that make you anymore human or the victim any less human? To think that you're someone who's here to inspire, care and lead.


Okay whatever. I'm no longer a teacher so I shouldn't poke my nose in the school's affair.


But really..

O btw, if you've added me on facebook and I did not accept, I probably don't know you. I'm a shy person and I don't quite wanna accept anyone that I don't know. So PM me who you are before adding me k!

Okay I'm finding it increasingly difficult to post on this blog bc I'm really detached from the school at the mo. Usually, my post are inspired by something I see in the school and I feel that I have to try to help, or by conversations with fellow Northlanders.


However, I do not wish to stop blogging as I know how important it is to have a mentor at this age. I didn't have one, and I missed a lot of opportunities. I'd hate it if this were to happen to any of my students.


I'll try to have some generic posts about he future but let me know if there's a specific issue that you want me to talk/blog about (maybe child abuse, eating disorders, bitchy classmates etc.). If not, after I've lost my inspirations and memories of NSS fade, you may find this blog dead :(

IF YOU WANNA BE

okay, here's some important shit that you guys need to know (yes, I can use the word shit since I'm no longer a teacher whoohoo)


It's mightily important to think about what you wanna be in the future, if you haven't already. WHY? bc some of my friends who wanna get into the course that they want can't do so due to their subject combination.


if you're a sec 2 or below, lucky you, all of the doors are open. If you've already done your physics/bio history/geo choice, ohno.


WHY? bc some uni entry requires you to take a certain subject in A level (assuming that you're going to a JC) and it's a no-go if you don't.



don't have much time here, but Math and Chem are the 2 most important subjects. I have done the wrong thing by taking H1 chem (something like combined science, H2 is pure science).



If you know what you wanna be, you can leave a tag and I'll tell you which subjects are important for you to do well in (which means that youl have to get god grades in O lvl to do it in As)



If you're intending to get a diploma (poly), then the more you should know what you want. and go find out what subjects are important for entry. (mass com requires an A for English if I'm not wrong. so on so forth)




OKAY HOPE YOU GUYS ARE STILL READING. (L)(L)(L)

Okay! For those people who did not receive cranes from me and want a message, please leave a tag with your fb link and I'll comment on your wall :)


I'll be selling some clothes for my friends on this space soon so keep a lookout k!

Pictures overload!

Last week in school and hence I brought my camera there.

The whole album's on facebook and I made it public to everyone.


Sorry but it's really too much to be uploaded on this site :(





you know that I'm gonna miss you guys badly right, :(

On pennies and cents

Money. How important is it actually?



As someone who comes from the middle-income group, I can tell you that it is important, only because you need it for things that is more important. You need money to buy food, a bed, pay for rents and school fees etc, all of which are more important than money. Of course, there're also things that money can't buy. Love, friendship, kindness, sincerity.


When I was in Secondary school, I spent my money treating people to Mc Donalds, buying new stuff, acting generous, despite the fact that my family wasn't very well to do. I guess this was pride and I didn't want people to know that I was poor and hence I acted otherwise. However, this is a very very very bad idea and it became a huge burden to my family as they had to 'sponsor' the immature me who only wants to satisfy my desire - to get more friends.


Unfortunately, those 'friends' that I made was only 'fair weather friends'. Friends who are there when all is well (when the weather is good) but leave your side once the storm comes. As I attracted them with monetary benefits, once I stopped being generous and 'charitable', they started turning their back on me and gossiping about it. This was I realised that money isn't everything.



I just want to share this with you guys so that you guys won't have to experience the same hurt as I did. More importantly, I hope to educate you on the value of money.


The value of money isn't in itself, but it is in the things it can get for you. Let's say that there is a disaster and there is no food on earth. So what if you have a million dollars? No one's gonna sell you any food (which matters). Hence, the value of the million dollars become 0!


With the same 20 dollar, if I spend it on a meal at fish and co., the value of that 20 dollar will be one full tummy. Yet, if I spend 3 dollar on a rose for mommy and 17 dollars on that badminton racket my little brother has wanted, the value will be love, joy, and smiles on your loved one's faces. For all you know, your 17 dollars may lead to the birth of the next Singapore Badminton Champion!


The point I want to make is that the money is in your hands and its value is in your hands as well. Do what you think makes the money worth it. I won't go on nagging about how hard it is to earn money because I'm sure many adults have gone that path and if I do, I probably won't succeed. I only hope that you can carry this mindset of 'money' and 'value' with you when you do another transaction next time.




Next, I want to talk about what people do when they have no money.


I guess there are generally 4 types of people.


1- the ones who insist on 'acting rich' and hence do many bad things to get money.



They steal, they rob, they lie, they do everything. Just to show off to the world with the latest gadget, the latest CD album, so on so forth. But what is the point? Stealing is a no-end habit. At first, you may steal because you 'need' it, (you probably want it more than you need it btw) and eventually you'll steal things that you don't need just because you can. This is a mental disease called kleptomania and it affects many of the teenagers today.

Think about your parents when they are informed of you bad deeds. They will be so ashamed of you. Not only that, they will be ashamed of themselves for being unable to provide for you (and hence result in you stealing). You are not only risking your life, but also telling to your parents that 'Hey! What you give me is not enough so I will steal it myself!!!!'. It will hurt your parents and people who care for you.

If you are the first type of people, I would encourage you to change.

If you still think that stealing is cool, I look down on you. How would you feel if your Mp3/ cellphone is stolen? By stealing, you are subjecting someone else in the world to this horrible feeling. Do you feel happy thinking about it? If you do, see me. You need some help..




2- Those who live with what they have




These people are those who are contented with being poor. If they can't afford the bag that they really want, it's okay. They will use the NDP bag their mother passed to them without grumbles. It's very noble, yet unwise of them. While they are not like the first kind who resort to evil doings to get what they want, they do not realise that they are able to help themselves to achieving things that will better their lives. They are myopic (jin shi - means only look at the short term) and are unable to look beyond their circumstances to see what they can do to get the bag that they want.


While these people are harmless to society, they do not contribute much as well. Read on to find out what else you can do! But please don't fall back to the first type of people. You are innocent, they are not.



3- People who work.




These people recognise the importance of money and they will spend their spare time working to earn their living. Maybe it is to buy food for the family, maybe it is to buy the new handphone. No matter what, they are getting money by the most decent manner - they earn it.

The satisfaction when you look at your pay, and buy the first thing with the first dollar you worked your ass off for is inexplicable. You will feel like as if you have grown wings and the whole world is under your feet. If you've never tried it before, I would encourage you to take a part time job to see the real value of money.


However, they is one thing wrong with this third group of people. Some of them work while studying and actually neglect their studies because they wanted to work so much. They tire themselves out and have no energy to listen in class. As a result, they fail their exams and have to repeat their year. Little do they realise that time is money (you can exchange it at the rate of 1 hour = $3 at mc donalds).


Another error that they commit is that they will use this money for entertainment. Think about it, you spend 7 hours working to get 30 dollars to spend it in Kbox for 5 hours. If you do the math, you lose 12 hours of time just to gain sore throat and maybe some fun and bonding with your friends. But such bonding can be done without money! True friends are made in the playground, where you share your deepest secrets and engage in heart to heart talk.


While I would pat your back for working so hard, if you committed any of the 2 errors, I would encourage you to quit your job and focus on what is important first.



The last kind of people are the wise and prudent ones. They know the importance of education and they know how it can pull them out of the poverty cycle. Hence, they forgo the 5k that they can earn in Mc Donalds and they focus on their studies.




If you graduate with a N lvl cert, you basic pay would fall around 1000.
With an O lvl cert, it can increase to 1500.
With a Poly degree, it can grow up to 2000.

For A level, it is around the same as poly, but it will give you a better chance of getting into a Uni, which can have a basic pay of up to 3000.

Work the Math. Ask yourself which is more worth it. If you passed your Sec 1 Math, you will realise that a jump in the level of cert will give you 500 dollars more a month. Now, you take around 5 months to earn this 500. If you spend the 5 months studying instead, knowing that it will pay off in the future, you and your family is only going to benefit from the higher income that you'll get!

If your friends are true friends, they wouldn't need you to be around 24/7. They would respect your decision of studying (instead of sniggering and calling you names) and support you to do what is right.

If your friends are going to ignore you because you are working towards your bright future, let me tell you, they are not worth the time. I won't want such friends in my fright future anyway.




If I can turn back time, I will surely study harder and get into a better school.. I do not wish for you to regret. trust me, I've been through this..


If you want your kids to have a better future, you should look far and start working hard now!



I do not mean that you should not spend time slacking/chilling with your friends; you should! my most memorable time in Sec School are those spent with my best friend, talking crap in Mac. But lesson time should be spent wisely, listening and absorbing as much as you can, instead of talking (which you can surely do after classes). Learn to love learning. When that happens, you will feel happy during lessons, not because it is fun. But because you are learning things that will help you in your future.



Well, I won't be in school much longer so I do hope that the time I've spent on you guys have helped you in a way or another. If you feel that I've wasted you time, I am truly sorry..

hahahahahhahaha okay sorry I was mostly crazy in class todayyyyyyyy. Sorry everybodyyyyyyyy I bet no one learnt anything :( :( :( :( okay okay okay apology accepted? (L)(K)(Y) :D


head pain siol.

Results

Miss Oon is very sorry that she wasn't with all of her Science classes when they received their results. Please leave a tag to tell me how did you do and any reflections (if any). It's not compulsory, but I'd like to hear from you guys. :)


If it is too long for the tagboard, you can Email me at askmisso@gmail.com :)


I'll be looking forward to hearing from you guys! :)

O next week will be my (as well as Miss Chen and Lim's) last week. I'll be bringing my camera to snap unglam shots of you (e.g. Pei Jin and Hui Min in the previous posts). So be camera ready 24/7 :D \m/

Don't let your worth be determined by others

Okay, idk if you guys have been catching the news, but the A level results were out 2 days ago on Friday. Tears of joy, tears of fear, tears of hope, tears of disappointment, everything.


It's kind of amazing that 2 years can pass so swiftly and everything that you've put in your hard work to can just magically transform into results in the form of a certificate in a day.



I want to blog about this bc I'm sure many of you are "headless chicken" in the sense that you don't know what you want in life and what are you actually doing in NSS. Many of you just want to slack as much as you can and make friends and be cool, yaddah yaddah.


Being someone who's been through this stage, I must admit that I've regretted doing all the above. I regret not studying harder and not making the full use of my time.


The 4 years spent in NSS will also magically transform into a piece of certificate, which -whether you like it or not- will determine your life. ITE, Polytechnics, or even JCs. It's not only the type of institution that matters, but the specific college will definitely look at your results. Would you rather go to RJC or YJC? Would you rather go to TP or NYP?


Even though (most of you) are sec 3, it's not too early to plan ahead- decide which institute you want to go to. Aim high. Work hard. Have a goal in mind and everything will just flow. You head will grow and you'll flap your wings. One day, you'll fly.



With that said, I must add that you shouldn't let your results determine your worth.


I know many of you will be getting back your common test results next week. Physics will be given back on Monday (so don't bring your text book). For 3N it'd be on Tuesday. Even if you fall short of your expectation, even if you fail, don't let it be a gauge of your potential. You are worth so much more.


Don't allow your grades to convince you of your worth. Convince the world that the grade was a mistake. If you failed, don't behave like a loser just to 'prove to the world that you can't study'. Or some will stop studying and use the excuse 'o, I did not study. If I study I confirm A one laaaaaaaaaaaaaaa'. Please, those are just excuses. If you really can do it, prove to the world. why do you have to mask up your potential?


If the eagle doesn't spread its wings and fly bc it's complacent that it can fly the highest, soon or later its muscles will deteriorate and it'll lose its ability to fly and end up being overtaken by sparrows.


Exams are not there to "kill you", they are there for you to see how much have you absorbed from the lessons and hence gauge whether you need to study more, or concentrate more on certain subject, or seek help for some others. It can also give you an awesome sense of satisfaction when you score the highest (that's when the arrogant ones will keep on saying that they did not study at all, making others feel inferior.- DON'T AH. I whack you).



No matter what, I'm sure that each and every one of my students have tried his/her best. If you haven't, don't worry, you've still got the mid years and the CT2, and EOY. Don't give up, but don't be proud.


Work hard so that the tears that you evr cry will be those of joy and hope. Jia You :)

Now, think of ways to make studying fun! Please taggggg :)

for those who are interested; I'll be going through this topic tmrw, 5th March :)

I know a teacher should not be biased, but I find 3N very very easy to teach. Today was the first day I shouted at them (quite sad but inevitable). Sometimes I don't believe that they are in 3N, they seem to be on par with all of the other classes I teach!

Maybe the environment is more 'Chinese' because of HuiMin hollering Mandarin in class all the time, but I really enjoy teaching this class a lot.


I want to thank Vanessa, Xin Zhu, Lim Thong, Zhen Hao, Shernice, Fazirah, Hakim and Rizal for being so participative during my lessons. They make the class more lively by providing their opinions. Of course, I'm also grateful to the rest who listens attentively and make sure that they do their work properly. I wish you all the best for your common test :)

While jogging, I came upon this problem that many of the students face:


While I was pushing/pulling some Northlanders to jog, one of them said: "but there are still so many behind!"



Here's the problem: why do you care about people who are behind you? Why don't you look ahead instead, and look at those in front of you?



If you want to be the best, you must fight with the best. What is the point of looking at those who are not as good as you?



If I put you through PSLE again and you score 300, will you be proud of it? (can you even manage to score 300?)

If I sign you up for the "intelligent baby search" and you won it because you know what is an "apple" and the babies do not, will you be happy?


Why don't you look at the O lvl students, looking at them get 13 and 14 for their L1R5 and point at them saying that "I can do much better" instead of looking at the number who failed and say "O, at least if I fail, I'm not the only one!".


If you think like the latter, you're guranteed to fail in life.


Mindsets are things that you have the power to change. Circumstances won't, but as long as you have the right attitude, you can change how you view the circumstance and hence be a happier person.



Let's say someone gossips about you (which I must say, is inevitable in this school), you can choose to





1- make a big fuss and gossip back about her and start a blog war and tio her and eventually get into trouble yourself.








or 2- tell yourself that she's not worth the time or that she's simply jealous (which is usually the case) and let the inccident off.







or 3- approach her nicely, resolve the issue and eventually become good friends with her.



Most people will choose 1 (of course, if I ask you, you won't but in real life, you'll be unable to control yourself) and that is not a wise choice. Ask yourself: what do you gain from hurting her? You feel happy for a while (that's her retribution or spreading nasty things about me), people know you, but for the wrong reasons (eh, that girl, scary sia, anyhow will whack people, lets avoid her). Eventually, you yourself get into trouble for letting pride comsume you.


If you chose 2, you're logical, but yet full of yourself. It is what the 'smart ah-lian haters' of this generation will do. But they themselves are the new 'ah-lians'. You secretly hurt from her comments but you choose to mask it, and show only your 'brave' side. But what for? what do you gain? Pride again?


3 is the 'model' answer but most people execute it wrong. They will 'confront' the girl like an ah lian and 'resolve' the matter by screaming and shouting and eventually creating more hatred.
The 'model' way is to approach her in the dark, when no one is around, such that she cannot escape. She'll be afriad, becasue she is guilty of badmouthing you. Look stern and threatening, but start with an apology. Apologize for what you think you've done wrong, and talk to her nicely. If it goes well, not only will you lose an enemy, you'll win a friend. All that's required of you is to put down your pride for the first second to apologise. Take the first move, and all things will be in place naturally.



These 3 reactions will generate 3 different outcomes. Moreover, it's all in your hands! You can control your life.


A student from 4EC told me that 'one person cannot change anything'. Look at Lee Kuan Yew, look at Micheal Jackson, look at the person who hurt you the most....


1 person can matter a lot.

Hi

these are points that you should include in your concept maps:



Dynamics:

Free body diagram

Vector Quantity

Changes in motion

Newton

Change motion, change speed, change direction.

Friction – positive and Negative effects.
Opposes motion between 2 surfaces in contact

N2L – f = ma = fa- ff





Kinematics:


velocity = d/t speed =d/t SI Units

Area under v-t = d

Gradient of v-t = a gradient of d-t = v

A = v-u/t (SI unit)

Terminal velocity (steps to achieving)

Vector diagram (steps to drawing)

Constant acceleration of 10 ms-2 for free fall.







of course, they're more but these can start you off. Jia you ;D

1EA: went through mistakes. I HOPE THEY DO WELL (PRAY PRAY PRAY)


3EA: workbook and didn't get to finish concept map. le sigh. wanted to show off my brilliant coloring skills but cannot oh nos :( D:


3EB: remedial and total strength = 19/35 awsmfied. But the people who were there were quite pleasant to teach so it's a :D Lisa seems unhappy that she has to stay backkkkkkkkkkk. hai. no one likes me. life sucks.




k, I go slit my wrist or smth. bye bye.

A 5 year old knows more than we all do.

Life

1EA: Gave them a mock test and more than half of the class aced it. It was a pleasure to see the ‘fruit of my labour’ as I was the one who taught them these concepts. One girl came to me and said “teacher, I think I like Math a lot now” and that meant a lot to me. Even though it was not a drastic change because she was a good girl all along, I felt that my time in this school has made a difference, which is awesome to say the least.

3EA: Revised some key concepts of the dynamics and I’m not very sure if they absorbed well.. The difficult part is that I cannot collect their worksheet back to check because they’d need it to revise for their common test. The class seems to be more attentive in their new seating arrangement, a contrast to 1EA. That’s awesome because Keisha’s paying attention :D I’ll be mindful to not release the classes so late in the future. Sorry about that :/
I'm quite worried for a few key characters in class.
MeiLin, SiYu and ChuJun doesn't seem to be paying attention during my class but when I talk to them, they say that they do. It's hard for me because I want to trust them but it really appears to be that they are not listening :( maybe I'll make them carry placards to say that they're paying attention or smth.
Shereen and Agil have always been weaker in their studies and the thing is that they enjoy ahem. socializing. and often get their priorities mixed up. In the new arrangement, they're seperated and hence talk slightly less but I'm worried because they haven't absorbed much from my previous lessons :(
LingRui is perpetually sleeping, I don't really know what I can do for him...
Willem keeps missing classes and when he's in class, he's not 100% attentive as well. very very worried for him.
Karyn seems to be uninterested in the subject, but maybe it's just me :(

WeiTing nicely texted me some feedback on my lesson and I wish that everyone would do the same. I'd really appreciate it and it'd help a lot in my planning of the lessons. It's beneficial to both parties if you think about it..




Okay yes, so Common Test, boomz. I have only 1 thing to say: please be cautious of your time management. Most papers are only half an hour and you're required to do at least 10 sums I think. Segment and manage your time well. Skip if you can't do a question after 5 min, don't be stubborn.

Study hard! Till later ~