Project Happy Feet

For those of you who have read about my recent trip to Siem Reap, you would have heard my story about how the village children go around without footwear. And you would have heard about how I'd like to start a little project - Project Happy Feet to get a large number of slippers to be shipped over to them.

And so, far and wide, I am making a call to whoever who thinks they can contribute in some way to bring these slippers to the children. For example, if you...

a) Know a slipper manufacturer/supplier who can sponsor or sell cheap slippers
b) Know someone in the cargo company who can fly/ship the slippers over free
c) Would like to donate in some monetary terms
d) Can spread the word round so we have more hands to contribute
e) Think you can lend a hand in any way to Project Happy Feet

Do drop me an email at projecthappyfeet@gmail.com, stating how you can be contacted, and how you'd like to contribute.

Bless your good heart! I'm sure the children will be very thankful in whatever way you'd be contributing.



Let's make many happy feet!

:)

Taking ownership of learning

It was the first day of school for my former students yesterday. It was also the first day of me having to work by myself from home. For both of us, it was taking a step out of the usual routine we've been having for the last four weeks of holidays.

I had a choice to make - to laze the whole day away, or make full use of it. I'm glad I did the latter by scheduling appointments for the rest of the week. I'm almost all booked up and I take it as a positive sign for me as I move on to my next endeavours in the field of education.

Each day for me these days is a day of learning. A learning that I take full ownership of. It's not easy as it takes resilience, discipline and foresight to see how one's efforts today will yield a better harvest for tomorrow. It's about foregoing immediate gratification for something more in the future.

And as I learn these days, I hope that my former students keep in mind what I've told them before I left school - that the learning is their own. It's not about who your teachers are, or how they teach. It's about how you want to choose to learn.

I've chosen to take ownership of my learning, and I hope my students do the same for themselves too.

Reflections of an Educator

The end of a journey marks the beginning of a new one. And as I am moving on to the next phase of my life, I'd like to take a moment to reflect.

They said being a teacher is a noble job. And having been through a year's training and three years' experience teaching, I must say that it is more than that. It requires more than just being able to teach. It's a whole load of responsibilities rolled in one - which makes it much like any other job. The difference? The life of a child is at stake.

If I think about it, what I do in the classroom, or how I interact with my students do play a part in the development in their lives. For the most of us who were called to be teachers, we are motivated by one single factor - to want to make a difference in the life of a child - a pretty noble and idealistic motivation.

Many like me, had quit the better paying private sector to want to make a difference. While some thrive in the new environment, others like me feel that there's so much more to be done than what's done in the schools. Still, more often than not, others blend into the system, and allow their enthusiasm drained by the load of emotional and physically-draining responsibilities.

With more than 100 students under your care at any one time, it is not easy to want to be able to care for all at once. It's different from parenting. And on top of ensuring the child excels academically, the teacher is often tasked with part-time parenting as well - disciplining and caring for the social and emotional well-being of the child.

It is easy to adhere to theories of the care of a child when we are dealing with individuals, but when the care involves masses, theories fail to hold as well as it purports.

And so, the initial enthusiasm generated by teacher training melts away all too quickly, resulting in disillusioned young teachers who would actually be instrumental in creating that paradigm shift in education.

My four years in the education ministry isn't exactly a picture of gloom. For one who refuses to live life with regrets, I make it a point to tease out learning points for every decision I make. "I wouldn't have learned this if I hadn't chose to walk this road."

My students are my greatest source of inspiration - and stress. They are also my greatest source of motivation - and a lack of. They affect my mood, my emotions, my thoughts. And if you multiply that by a hundred or more times, you can understand why teachers are one of those who find themselves having psychological problems.

Still, I've learnt the best things from my students and any teacher who teach or have taught will agree with me the fulfillment teaching gives that no other job can.

At the end of it all, it is really up to the individual to decide the road to embark on in education. The education scene has changed so much that it offers so many possibilities to define education. Others get excited while others get confused.

As for me, I've decided to walk another road, and define my own space in education.

But the motivation still remains the same - to make a difference.

遇见

This is probably the first almost all Mandarin posting I have. Bought myself Stefanie Sun's My Story, Your Song album two weeks back and it's been on my CD player these days. Even my friends and students who see me listening her songs over the msn have exclaimed in surprise.. "Wah! You listening to Chinese songs ah?!" - well more like a tone of shocked disbelief.

Amongst the many songs I like, mostly ballads, I like this one (also because I can't seem to find the lyrics of the others on the web).

遇见

听见冬天的离开
我在某年某月醒过来
我想我等我期待
未来却不能因此安排
阴天傍晚车窗外
未来有一个人在等待
向左向右向前看
爱要拐几个弯才来
我遇见谁会有怎样的对白
我等的人他在多远的未来
我听见风来自地铁和人海
我排著队拿著爱的号码牌
我往前飞飞过一片时间海
我们也曾在爱情里受伤害
我看著路梦的入口有点窄
我遇见你是最美丽的意外
总有一天我的谜底会解开

Way to go in supporting our local artistes!! :)

Packing Up and Counting Down

I'm packing my things and counting down til 8 June, which marks my last day at Holy Innocents' High School.

And as I pack my things and look through my files, I realised how much I've grown and changed in my teaching methods through the three years. Once an amateur, referring to reference books all so often, I've moved on to using authentic materials and adapting them to suit the profile of my students.

Snapshots of how I've thrown the starfishes as and when I could into the sea in my four years in the education service - from my NIE days right til the 8 June - come to mind, giving me a little sense of achievement. And though there have been bad days, I shrug these off. Afterall, there must be rain to have a rainbow.

I will miss my students in a way, and I hope they will grow up to be fine young people. Closest to my heart will be my Media Club writers, and the students I've taught since Sec 1 - my 1 Unity 2004 kids. They are now in Sec 4, and boy have they grown! All the best for your O levels this year!!

As for my form class this year, I hope they will heed my advice and work hard to improve. Life is not fair sometimes and we have to work harder than others. But that makes us stronger people, and we'll know how to pick ourselves up if ever we should fall again. "The greatest glory consists not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall."

As for me, I'm moving on to the next phase in my life as well. It's filled with uncertainty, but with a heart and passion for a greater good. Not that what I'm currently doing isn't good enough, but that the call to do bigger things is much too strong for me to resist. And reaching out to the less fortunate seems the right thing to do.

I wish all my students the best in the future undertakings, and if ever they see a starfish, may they remember to smile, and recall all that I've taught them. One day, I hope they will join me in throwing starfishes in the sea.

:)
m.c.