The Carpenter's Tools

I was preparing a little farewell gift for my form class when I stumbled upon this story which Pastor Kong shared some time back...

"Brother Hammer served as the chairman. The other members of the tool belt informed him that he must leave, because he was too noisy. But brother Hammer said, "If I have to leave this carpenter's shop, then brother Gimlet must go too. He's insignificant and makes a very small impression." (A gimlet is a small tool with a screw point, grooved shank, and a cross handle for boring holes).

Little brother Gimlet arose and said, "All right, but brother Screwdriver must go also. You have to turn him around and around to get anywhere with him."

Brother Screwdriver turned to the other tools in the belt and said, "If you wish, I will go, but brother Plane must leave too. All of his work is on the surface; there's no depth to what he does."

To this brother Plane leveled his terse reply, "Well, then, brother Saw will have to depart too. The changes he proposes always cut too deep."

Brother Saw complained, saying, "Brother Ruler will have to withdraw if I leave, for he's always measuring other folks as though he were the only one who is right."

Brother Ruler then surveyed the group and said, "Brother Sandpaper doesn't belong here either. He's rougher than he ought to be, and is always rubbing people the wrong way."

In the midst of the discussion, the Carpenter from Nazareth walked in. He had come to perform his day's work. He put on His tool belt and went to the workbench to make a pulpit. He employed the ruler, the saw, the plane, the hammer, the gimlet, the screwdriver, the sandpaper, and all the other tools. When the day's work was over, the pulpit was finished, and the carpenter went home. All the accusations against each of these tools were absolutely true, yet the carpenter used every one of them. No matter which tool He used, no other tool could have done the work better.

Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.” In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. (1 Corinthians 12:20-22 NLT)"

LATEST Sec 111 2011 Semester 2 Timetable!!!

These are the LATEST!!



If that's too small, you can access your timetables in the following google document. :)

It's a new semester, time to buck up and end the school year well!

Sec 111 2011 Semester 2 Timetable

Hello 111,
I have taken photos of your time-tables for the odd and even week:





If that's too small, you can access your timetables in the following google document. :)

Enjoy what's left of your holidays, I'll see you all on Monday! :D

Kayaking Orientation Programme

Was at the MOE Changi Adventure Centre for a Kayaking Orientation Programme to get ready for an upcoming school trip with the Student Leaders.

I'm pretty excited about the trip which is happening 3rd to 7th June at the Paka River Camp! :)


And whee, I've got the sailor's navy shorts for company! ;)

Kisses for Vday

I bought these Hershey's Kisses for the 3 classes I teach - 105, 111 and 112.

As of today, I only managed to give them to 112.
Guess it'll be belated gifts for 105 and 111!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! :)

Tricia and her "army" 大姐!

I'm outta school for my NCC Teacher-Officer Course from 18 October to 12 November 2010 at Amoy Quee Camp, so I gotta book in and out everyday in my smart 4. :)

This evening, at Grandma's house, I took a picture with Tricia.

I'm loving this 'regular' lifestyle. :)
Did I make the right decision?
Should I have chosen to sign on to SAF/Navy instead of MOE? :|

"...NO white flag..."

‎88 + 35 + 49 today, another 35(?) tomorrow; finale of 176 on 14th October. -wry smile-
"I won't put my hands up and surrender. There will be no white flag above my door..."

Yea, let's go Jas, mark away, mark away, mark awayyyyyy!

MY "Great Depression"

MY "Great Depression" commences in a few hours, when the kids are done with EL Paper I.
Paper II comes in tomorrow. :|
Need these 4 weeks to fly by so I can go slow with life again! :D
Hurry time, please zoom zoom by! ;)

Belated Teachers' Day Dinner

We finally had our Teachers' Day Dinner today.



That's the only dish I managed to snap a photo of.
Not cuz I was a glutton and ate before I could take a photo, but because I was the emcee (together with G Kaur and B Lim).

And cuz I was emcee-ing, I didn't manage to cam-whore. :(

This is the last photo I've got for the evening. :(

Oh, the Beginning Teachers (and new staff to QSS) did a dance.
Each of us got someone to join us in the dance.
AND, what made the night even better was that we managed to get everyone to do the dance as a closing! :)
I love everybody's spontaneity!! :D



Oh, love this photo too.

With Adam and Kadir.
Don't we three look so cute standing at the same height? :P

NCC Mount Ophir Adventure Training

Oh yea! I went, I saw, I "conquered"! ;)


Yes, a few of the Part C NCC Cadets and I conquered Mount Ophir on the 8th of September 2010. :)

It was tiring but uber fulfilling.

AND I made it to the top with 34 others - 31 cadets and 3 other teachers.

It was an awesome experience.

More photos of days 1, 2 and 3 on FaceBook! :)

"I touch the future, I teach." -Christa McAuliffe

It's normal to be discouraged, but seeing my kids learn something everyday keeps me going. :)



I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope my application gets approved.
We'll only know in a few months' time.
In the meantime, I'll enjoy these kids I have! :D

discouraged again

For the second time within 24 hours, I walked out of another EL class dejected.
Yes, you read that right, dejected.

I'm really trying very hard with these classes of mine.
I'm not expecting results, I only expect them to try in EL class.
Is 'trying' too much to ask for as well?

And I always beared in mind that "Students do not care how much I know until they know how much I care."
Did I not 'care' enough?
Am I not showing enough 'care'?

I think I'm such a joke.
All the late nights put into churning out this set of materials about YOG, what did I stay up for?
YOG, does it really matter to them? Does it really matter what is going on in Singapore?

I don't think so.
Indeed, such a joke.


This is my table.


This bookmark is placed on my table, and I see it it everyday.
So what if I label them 'success stories'?
They look down on themselves, that is half the battle lost.
They don't even bother trying, that is the other half of the battle lost.


I'm going to try again.
My deadline, 19th August 2010; and I'll decide if I should request to have them again.
Maybe, they don't need a joke like me afterall...

NCC-NPCC bonding session? :)

Headed to Kallang Sea Sports Centre with the NCC and NPCC Cadets after the YOG Torch Relay.


Briefing by Kelvin.


NPCC Cadets - Sec 1s and 2 Sec 3 NCOs.


NCC Cadets - Sec 2s and 3s.


Cadets putting on their life jackets and getting their oars/paddles(?).


To check if the life jacket is too loose.

A few NCC boys...


and girls...

All ready to paddle!


Dragonboat 1.


Dragonboat 2.


Dragonboat 3.


Dragonboat 4.


Dragonboat 5.


Getting ready to go 'onboard'.

All aboard!











Team bonding out at sea. :)

Paddling their way back to land.









'Disembarking'.

Actually, I've got some 80ish photos of the event; yes, as usual, Ms Tay's trigger-happy!
Check out the entire album on FaceBook. :)
Have fun! ;)

YOG Torch Relay

This Friday the 13th is special for all Queenswayans:





Students and teacher alike lined the road outside school to welcome the YOG Torch as it passed by Margaret Drive.

Definitely an enjoyable once-in-a-lifetime experience! ;)

6

It's only Week 6 of the term and I feel like I've run out of stamina.
I love my classes but the lesson preparation is wearing me out.
Having to engage them yet prepare them for exams ain't helping either.
Sigh...

I need a getaway!
Hmmm...

Learning Journey

I took my Part A NCC Cadets to the National Museum of Singapore today.

It was awesome and there were two exhibits I enjoyed.

Cai Guo-Qiang's Head-on,
and

Singapore 1960.

More photos on FaceBook. :)

Racial Harmony Day 2010

We celebrate Racial Harmony Day today and students get to wear clothes of their respective ethnic groups to school.


We also had loads of other activities going on in the hall. (I only managed photos of two activities cuz I got distracted by the displays too. :|)

Calligraphy.


Henna.


Teachers had a Fruits and Food Day in the Staff Lounge! :)

More photos on FaceBook! :)