EXAM FEVER / FEVERISH BECAUSE OF EXAM (?)

Exam weeks are here again. Students ARE SUPPOSED to study and do their scholarly duty because that's why parents send them to school. (Unless your parents just wanna put you there during the day so they can have the place free...). But I don't think these students study enough... they don't put enough time and energy to study. So I had to do something so my students' Science grades don't go down the drain (not like it ever was).

This was last Sunday morning, during my time as warden on duty at the hostel. On a whim, I told them I wanted to do additional class and the poor souls who thought it was not compulsory can kiss 15 marks off their Science paper.  (I am famous that way, slashing marks left and right).

The students sitting on the floor arrived a bit late. I don't tolerate tardiness well.

And here we are in class during an examination. I should walk around, doing the invigilating thingy, but I don't feel like it because my feet hurt. Furthermore I BELIEVE that if you get away with cheating.... you deserve it.

(Yes, I have this twisted notion that cheating students show EFFORT! If he or she was caught doing it, well... too bad and we'll give you zeroes. So please don't get caught kids!). 

Another class... during Geography paper I think. Several students were restless way before the end because they finished early. so some decided to sleep...

And I promptly slapped one of the sleeping beauties, and they all stayed awake until the end of the scheduled time. (If you think just telling them off will just do the trick, you must not know children that well. Or do you prefer me asking them why they lack energy, as I cuddled them in my arms?)

Ahhh... this was taken seconds before that slap. Don't worry as I do carefully time my angle and force so not to cause permanent damage to so called victim(s). I am not proud being physical, but believe me, that's why we need hammers to push in nails.

Do you let students sleep during your examinations?

p.s.
- gimme an idea for a new post people!

Teachers' Day 2016 - More of Pink and Black

We do have a Teachers' official song, and it was sang every Teachers' Day throughout the country by all teachers (a yearly event, so students waited for this).

These are my male colleagues, and that's my boss, the vice principal of student affairs, the second man from the right. 

More pink... Some female teachers (and wardens) who enjoyed having their pictures taken.

And the woman nearest is my big boss, the principal of the school.

Here, she and the rest of the clan are receiving flowers from the students, symbolizing love etc etc.

(I didn't get one because I escaped this scene).

I am totally allergic when people come apologizing to me. 

And here is the picture of all teachers in my school....

I am at the last row.... and looking at my phone PURPOSELY. I am weird that way :P

p.s.

- these pictures were taken by a female teacher, way more colourful than mine as you can see

Teachers' Day 2016 - Black, Pink and Very Popular

Teachers Day was here again and it's my kind of holiday (even for a day). The day is celebrated internationally on every 16th May. But some schools might delay the celebration for a day or two, usually because the day always clash with the mid year examinations.

I neglected to post this for two days, la la la.  

This year the teachers decided to wear pink or black or a mix of the two. I opted to wear black because my pink shirt is almost bursting at the seams (I have gained some weight these few months). The ceremony started at 730 am, with full attendance of students and teachers.

Earlier in the morning I did some shouting at the hostels, warning them not to spoil the teachers' mood and more importantly, MY mood by doing things that they are not supposed to do this auspicious day. 

Boring speeches... The principal and vice principal read speeches from the Minister and the Director of Education. Truth be told, I wasn't paying attention to the speeches because I was busy conducting my prefects. There was no teaching that day and the mood was almost festive.

And this was taken after the assembly.... a lot of students want to have selfies with me, using my own phone. Students are forbidden to bring electronics to school. If the items were confiscated... usually they would be MINE. I warned every students about this, yet every year a couple of smartphones find their way to my hands from prefects' raids. I have a few small boxes of handphones at home belonging to students.... Returning them back? Not a chance.

And this is me in the school hall, sitting on a chair while the rest of the students sat on the floor. The school hall consisted of four classes which were combined by removing the aluminum rolling partition. The major exams also took place here. As for the day, everybody was happy to sit on the floor to watch the performance by students for the teachers.

There were SEVERAL performances. And many of them mentioned MY name, for some reason or another. Truth be told, most of the performances was mediocre, even below average, especially the sketches and singing. But the students had few days to practice and that's ok. In this performance picture, I was most impressed even though I didn't understand a thing (because it was in Arabic). This was the only performance that showed skills and the result of long practice. It was a choral speaking thing, but in Arabic. Yes, I taught Science in a religious Arabic school.   

I received a great many gifts that day.... Heck, I always received A LOT MORE than most of the teachers combined every year. I used to gloat by posting the small hillock of presents on my table (to the distaste of the rest of my colleagues) but this year I decided not to.

I just wanna show you a small plastic trophy, not professionally decorated, but came to me from all the students of the school, by vote.

"The Most Popular Teacher"

Now top that, hahahaha! 

p.s.

- there are more interesting pictures during the sporting event, meals etc but some female teachers might kill me if they knew I posted those pics online. Spoilsport....

Of Panoramic Shots, Dwarves and Dim Sums...

 Good morning people :) It's a wonderful day and I just figured out that my HTC phone can do panoramic shots after the recent update. The shot above was taken at 720 am at my school, facing the sun. There was no assembly today as the mid year exam starts today. It took me around 16 minutes from home to school, with no heavy traffic (the reason why I love to live in a small town). This is my second year stationed here, when I was literally wrenched away from my old school because this school was in dire need of a science teacher. Still, I am happier here as the politics were a lot less and I felt more appreciated :)

I finished the book above by Markus Heitz in less than a week. It was originally in German and I was rather pleased the translated version is rather engaging. Heck, I was surprised that the Germans have a great fantasy author. The book was about dwarves and their heroes struggles against the forces of evil (orcs, goblins, evil elves, power hungry mages, the usual lot). 

I still have many books unread on my shelves. The book buying binge happened once a year (a book mega sale 50 - 90% off every end of March) and I admit that I have neglected to read for quite some time. It is good to find back the joy of reading :)  

Urmmmmmmm..... dim sum. Dim sum /ˈdimˈsʌm/ (simplified Chinese: 点心; traditional Chinese: 點心; pinyin: Diǎnxīn) is a style of Chinese Canton cuisine prepared as small bite-sized portions of food traditionally served in small steamer baskets or on small plates [excerp from Wkipedia]

I love Chinese food and I am 1/4 Chinese myself :P 

Dim Sum can be found at the cold or frozen section of the supermarket. But to find really good ones, I have to go to specialty shops that served the stuff. Stuff... Dim sum is REALLY steamed stuffed pastry. I love seafood and mushroom in mine. The supermarket stuff are almost tasteless and the really good ones cost quite a lot... But it's way cheaper than sushi.

It's May now.... And the pain is still there.

Hello and I hope you all are in good health and happy with your days...

Because I am not.

I have diabetes, but that does not make me truant from my own blog. I was swamped with work, but I still have plentiful time to sleep and do the things I like e.g. gaming and watching movies. Sometimes I blame my handphone for always be so reachable that I had to check on my messages every few minutes (and because of that I deleted every social apps I had except Whatsap, Facebook and Telegram).

The thing is..... my cat, Kiki, is dead.

My ray of sunshine died and I was gloomy ever since.

And please, I don't want to talk about how she got ill. She died in the care of the vet and now her body is beneath my pomegranate tree in front of the house.

Life goes on...

My housemate acquired two kittens, one white and the other one black after her death. He named them Putra (Prince) and Bayu (Wind), after his cats back at home. I rarely played with these kittens because the pain of losing Kiki is still there.

I am reading again, after neglecting to read a proper book for quite some time, I blame the internet for this. (Yet I just finished an exam paper in record time just now BECAUSE of the internet).

Will do a proper entry soon, with pics etc.

Thanks for reading.