My 2nd Calling...

There are 3 callings that I have answered so far in my life: 1st calling to be a Christian, 2nd calling to be a teacher, 3rd calling to be ... (wait for the next entry!)

Being a teacher is a really challenging job, especially for teachers with young children. If you do not receive a calling to take up this meaningful job, you will definitely quit after 3 years (we have a bond with MOE). I came in hoping to make an impact to my students (to love them as my own, to fire them up with passion for life and learning) but up to today, I personally felt that I have not being doing my job well and it is my students who are making the impact in my life...

To mention about my workload would makes this an endless entry so I will spare you the misery... but to paint you the picture, let me just mention that a teacher is not just teaching & marking alone... a teacher is also a debt collector (where's your HW?), a nanny (must be able to know you well so that your parents will know how you are doing), a nagger cum beggar (Please study for your tests! Please study! Please stop slacking! I lost count how many times I have said that!), a clerk (we spent most of our time clearing paperwork and admin stuff), an entertainer (we have to engage our students in learning - fail quite badly in this area), a CEO (handling a CCA [people + activities] is no joke!), a project manager (we have many ad-hoc & major projects e.g. Tablet PC), a writer (notes + worksheets + tests), a disciplinarian (tuck in your shirts, pull up your socks (literally & figuratively)) and many more... In a single word, an octopus!

A typical day for me: wake up at about 6 am. Reach school at about 7 am. Teach, mark, photocopy, check email, do paperwork, prepare for lessons and before you know it, it's 2pm! Continue with meetings, CCA, marking, preparing lessons, etc until about 5 pm. Fetch Christian from his childcare, play with the kids, eat dinner, wash up, story time, make them sleep and it's 10 pm. Continue to prepare for tomorrow and school related work etc and it's 1 am. My record still holds at not sleeping a wink just to finish preparing notes for lessons! You never guessed that some of the notes my students are receiving are products of sleepless nights...

Now the enjoyable and memorable part of it:

I missed the time that I had with my form class (303'04). We had steamboat in school for CNY, had plenty of birthday celebrations, showing them photos in class, went to the Sec 3 camp together, met up with each one individually to talk about things, tried to reduce the tension & stress in the class, comforted a few crying souls, gave advice to a couple or two, telling them that I want to be invited to their weddings, saying farewell to Melinda, inviting them for my baby's first month, receiving cards and gifts for teachers' day, receiving a jar of stars with an individual message to encourage me (I have not finished opening all yet), giving sweets to encourage them for exams and tests, celebrating the last day of school... this year I drifted further away from them because of my workload, just saying hi and byes... becoming strangers at times... trying my best to still celebrate their birthdays but my heart is aching to know that things are not the same anymore... I really miss the good old days...

God is merciful to comfort me with the time I am having with my new form class (112'05). They are adorable and bright kids to begin with, childish at times (many times) but yet sensible at the right time (not always though), came to my place (together with some of the 403 students) for CNY celebrations, showed them photos and videos of my family like never before, chatted and emailed quite often with them, pestered me with their problematic TPCs (virus, lockout, dropout, gaming, wireless etc), having a class blog, birthday celebrations, supporting each another when some of them are down with health problems...

My hope is still to be close to both my form classes, given the constraint of my workload and my commitment at home. Once a papa, always a papa...

My other classes are also very dear to me.

Three classes brought me to tears (and laughter) during these two years of my service as a teacher:

406'03, the havoc class during my time as a contract teacher. Was upset that they were not interested in studying at all...

304'04, the rojak class with people of contrasting personalities... Was upset that they were not united as a class and not motivated to study...

405'05, the artistic (virtual + performing) class with people of lovely personalities... Was upset that they are not serious about studying and they are not performing to their fullest potential... Most worried for this class... please don't disappoint me again, can?

Other classes who brought me laughter and "worries":

110'05, the jovial class with a great sense of humour! I love the energy and zeal that they display: they need to channel it to their studies!

408'05, the mini class who loves to play: the best, the worst, the neatest, the messiest in Physics are all here... they are actually a brilliant bunch of teens who had their priorities in the wrong place... start your engine and soar...

In summary, I love you all for the fun, frustrations, worries, laughter, disappointments & encouragements that you brought to my life...