Goodbye hols, back to school...

LOL! I've been doing this for almost a good part of my life... at some point for many, most of us stop going to school. Me? It's still a yearly ritual...

Some years I'd dread going back. But there were years I looked forward to the new school year. This year? Ambivalence is the word! Been seeing my work place rolling downhill into doldrums these last 2 years! It's hard to remain enthusiastic. I'm thinking... private and homeschooling would probably be the way to go in the future since schools are getting worse.

First day... and already a long meeting - one that dragged till 4.30 p.m. I think we waste way too much time for such meetings. 20 minutes would have sufficed. I guess some of us love to hear our own voices. They printed duplicate reports of the same analysis of the PMR results.... it's like nobody bothered to look at what was given out. As long as some papers are given out... that's the impression. At a time when we are reminded that money is in short supply, that's wastage. I think the gahmen is a little 'broke' cos it seems quite a lot of funding are either being slashed or assumed by the school. The gahmen should never have made publics exams free... fees collected would have gone some way in helping to pay for the running of the exams! And now we seem to be short of money....

And we were told that we need to make contracts with our students the number of written exercises each month. I wonder whether it is to make our job easier or theirs - so that they can have beautiful documents to show? Contracts... sounds crazy! Contracts to make sure teachers give work I supposed. I know many teachers don't.... sometimes, I wish they'd come straight out and tell the teachers straight... it needs telling!

Then during the meeting, the PK said that the Chinese kids do well in Maths cos they do a lot of Maths questions. She had the cheek to add that the Chinese do not want to share this secret of their success. One of my colleagues replied that very often we cannot get our students to even do their work. I added that it would be good if we, teachers are allowed to take more drastic measures (such as caning - which of course will never be allowed) for recalcitrant students, which we have in great numbers. No such luck. Anyway, I get the impression that we are more concerned about paperwork than the actual work. It's all about looking good, still... the impression. A lot of talk, little real action. On top of it, our hands are subtly twisted to contribute quite a big sum for the boss' retirement. Only one day... and already I get the feeling that I'm swimming in crap.

And oh ya! I walked into my class today (supposedly the 2nd best class in Form 5) towards the end of the day. Some fler had used permanent marker on the whiteboard.... I asked the students why no one did anything as almost a whole day had passed? They were just not bothered that the whiteboard could not be used. In the end, I went to get some thinner and cleaned half of the board before realizing that I shouldn't be cleaning it for them cos when I asked one of the boys to do it, he said 'no'. With such kinds of students who can't be bothered about their learning... I wonder why I was dumb enough to worry....

What I'll miss.... morning squash and breakfast sessions. Time to read. I've one resolution though this year - that I'll try sit with my girl every night that I am free. She is growing up real fast also.