Wednesday, October 31, 2007

How to improve your GP grade

Cautionary note: This is not a guaranteed solution

1. Start to use your brain.

Remember the 5-Whys? No? Basically, it is why, why, why, why and WHY. Think critically. Find out why a certain issue occur. The basics. The core. Develop depth. How to develop depth?
2. Read, read and read some more.
What to read?
The MI library is fantastic. It is always stocked with new arrivals and the librarian is such a great help. Factual books are the best but if you have trouble reading them, you can start with the thinner ones. What to choose? Much depends on your preference. Just refrain from reading chick lit and Harry Potter. Previously, I have recommended books such as Freakonomics and Discover your Inner Economist in class.

If you read The New Paper, it is time to spend that 70 cents on The Straits Times. You get a lot more pages and content. Although the Sports and Life! sections are more digestible,
the Review and Insight are a must-read to develop critical thinking. If you have no idea, get some ideas here from those who have. Do not take things at face-value. Critique.

3. Have an opinion with concrete evidence.

It is not just a baseless view. From the information you gather, you will have some ideas swimming in your head. Organise them and you will have a better argument. Discuss it with your peers, teachers or even your elders. They might even be impressed by your insight! =)

4. Improve your grammar.

Buy the Preston Primary 6 grammar exercise book and practise.

A GP tutor also answered the same question. You can read his post here.

[Floorball] First Aid Course

Please attend the first aid course. Details are as followed:
12, 13 & 14 Nov (Mon, Tue & Wed)
8 to 5 pm
School

Zaihasrah Binte Nasir
MUHAMMAD REDZWAN B ABD RAHMAN

Your role is extremely crucial as our players are always injured during games. If your fellow team mates will like to attend, please tag their names and IC. Thank you.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

[Floorball] Nominations for Combined Schools

SFA will be forming the Singapore Schools Floorball Team (Boys / Girls) that will be playing in the Singapore Floorball Association Division 1 Men’s and Women’s League respectively from January to Mid April 2008.

Students nominated please attend the Singapore Schools Floorball training trials and selections on Saturday 3rd, 10th and 17th November
from 9-11.30am (Girls) and
11.30am-2pm (Boys)
at ITE College Central (MacPherson Campus).
All nominated players must report for the first trial on 3rd November.

Siti Suhaila Bte Rahmat
Priya d/o Kakanajothi

MUHAMMAD NADZIR BIN AZMI
MOHAMMAD RIZAL B ISNIN
DINESH RAJ S/O SUPPIAH
SHAWN SYLVESTER SILVER RAJOO

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Steps to take if you are counselled to exit

Deepest sympathies to those who are counselled to exit.
I guess you will be extremely confused and lost now as you are unsure of your future.
Take note that the following advice given below does not guarantee success of appeal.

Ask yourself: Are you sure you are suitable for the 'A' Level course?

At this moment, are you ready to study? If you have other pressing matters to handle or not in the right frame to sit down and mug, perhaps you should settle those issues first.
It is not the end of the world if you do not take the usual path. One year's worth of lessons would have enable you to decide whether you are cut out to pursue the academic route.

2. If you decide not to pursue the 'A' Level course, you can consider other routes which are recommended in the hand-out given to you. Some of them include polytechnic, ITE, SHATEC, La Salle and private courses.

3. If you decide to pursue the 'A' Level course, you need to write an appeal letter addressed to the principal stating the reasons why you should be given another chance.

It is not just "I am very sure that I have the potential to do well. If I am given another year, I will graduate the top of the class." or something to that effect.

You need to write down why you performed so badly this year and concrete steps to improve your studies next year.

If it is all talk and no action, you are going to waste another year and you will find youself in the same situation next year which you will definitely be asked to leave.

Bear in mind that you will be using 4 years to complete the 'A' Level course and you might not even graduate with a full certificate.

Are you prepared to take that risk?

Those who are advanced/ retained to submit their application/ appeal form by 25 Oct, 12 pm.
Please attend a briefing by VP on 26 Oct, immediately after assembly, at LR1

Monday, October 22, 2007

Leadership camp 5-7th Nov

Compulsory briefing this Wednesday 24 Oct 07 after HT period from 1:25 – 3 pm at LR2.

Those who do not turn up will not be selected for the camp.

Students who are to be Counseled to EXIT will not be considered. Retained or Advanced Students can still attend.


Nominees from Floorball

MOHAMMAD RIZAL B ISNIN
HENRY IZZUWAN BIN KHAIRUDDIN
Phee Guanting
Zaihasrah Binte Nasir

Nominees from 07A7

Md Zulhimi Zainal [Hockey]
Shimma Bte Abdul Rahim[Hockey]
Patrick Fehroz Shah [Drama]
HUMAIRA BTE ZAINAL ABIDEN [Modern Dance]
H Archana Esther [Band]
Joyce Tan Man Fang [Band]
Gayethiri Devi d/o Utrakumaran [Indian Dance]

Saturday, October 20, 2007

My 26th birthday

Felt so weird when so many friends messaged me, "Happy birthday, Mrs Ng!"
Not that I don't like my new title, it seems as though I am not an individual any more - a part of Mr Ng. Anyway, I felt blessed when my friends called or messaged me birthday wishes. Thanks~

[The following is shameless raving about my birthday, totally irrelevant to GP so don't read if you are not interested.]

What I truly wanted for my birthday is a holiday
which I didn't get.

MOE education officers (teachers) need to seek approval from HOD and the principal before going overseas. Anywhere beyond Johor Bahru, I have to seek permission so goodbye impromptu getaway holidays. I didn't realise this after I have signed on the dotted line. It was not even in the fine print. A lot of things are not in the fine print.

What did I get for my 26th birthday?

French dinner

My pre-celebration with my secondary school buddies was at Ma Maison. Fabulous Japanese -Western fusion cuisine. We had cha-soba salad, cheese fritters and garlic butter escargots for appetisers. Their signature hamburger steak and squid ink spaghetti as main course. I strongly recommend this French cottage-styled restaurant for dates. The pricing is similar to Swensens but the food and atmosphere is much better. The first shop is at Bugis Junction and a branch just opened at The Central. If you go to The Central, stop by Paisley and Cream which sells mouth-watering cakes! My ex-colleague from Discovery Channel who learned baking in Le Cordon Bleu (if I remembered correctly) opened this cafe. A chic cafe to chill out on a weekend.
Enough blatant advertising....

Hong Kong dim sum breakfast
I can't go to Hong Kong so we had dim sum breakfast at East Ocean (Lido). This place serves the best custard salted egg yolk bun! The filling flows out like liquid gold. My favourite way of eating it is to suck the salty sweet filling before eating the bun. Another dim sum worth mentioning is the sharks' fin soup dumpling, only $6.50! I know I need to be environmentally conscious but it is my birthday so just let me eat that sliver of sharks' fin....

Chinese Tui-na
My husband said that he wanted to give me a 'relaxing birthday' and my bag of bones is falling apart so we went for massage. I wanted Swedish massage but after prodding my bones, the masseur recommended Chinese Tui-na as my body is severely tense. She warned that as she pressed my congested acupuncture points, I might feel slight discomfort.
What slight discomfort? It was so @#$% painful that I screamed silently and fight not to cry. I need some comfort food.

Japanese teppanyaki
Lunch was at my favourite Japanese restaurant at Far East Plaza. I am not telling you the name because it needs no more publicity. Sometimes, you have to wait for more than 15 minutes because there are less than 20 seats and only one person cooking. The place is so coveted that the chef actually charges $2 for each seat and it is compulsory to order at least one dish! A tiny dinky shop that one will definitely miss. When my journalist pal first brought me there, she said, "It feels like eating in Tokyo."
You sit at the cramped counter, huddling shoulder-to-shoulder with other customers. Slabs of fish meat are displayed in full view. The stoic yet meticulous chef prepares the sashimi right in front of you. Although I have tasted better Japanese food elsewhere, this shop's flavour suits me the most - fresh, simple and claustrophobic.

Hollywood B-grade movie
Balls of Fury is one of the worst movies I have seen but Maggie Q is really hot! The usual serious Christopher Walken dressed in post-Elvis garage sales costumes, acting as a villain is a riot. I was surprised to see Jason Scott Lee acting as a minion beefcake. The hit-to-the-groin jokes are lame, Asian characters are stereotypical, the plot is so bad that I cannot believe that I actually paid $9.50 to watch it. I wanted to watch a comedy so it was between Balls of Fury and Super Bad. Either one provides mindless humour. I chose Balls of Fury due to Maggie Q. She is sizzling hot!

Red shoes, Nail accessories and MP3 player
Being the dutiful daughter-in-law (shameless), I went to pick out kitchenware with my parents-in-law at Plaza Singapura. My husband allowed me to shop at Daiso and gave me a budget of $10 which I only spent $8! He is trying to curb my spending habit.
I bought a pair of red flats within 5 minutes today!
I also purchased magnets from 'Action for Singapore Dogs', doing my part for charity.
Did I mention that I am reading 'Confessions of a Shopaholic' by Sophie Kinsella?
In case you are thinking that I married Mr Scrooge, he bought me a new Panasonic MP3 player which only cost $49; extremely value-for-money.
Mr Ng saves, Mrs Ng spends. Match-made in heaven.

Halal Raspberry Cheesecake
My birthday cake was a slice of Raspberry Cheesecake from Secret Recipe. We are too full from our breakfast and lunch so we just ordered a slice of cake and a cup of mocha latte while our parents ate dinner. I never knew Secret Recipe was a Halal restaurant until my colleagues bought a separate cake here to celebrate the Muslim teachers' birthdays. To celebrate my birthday and be racially conscious, I shall eat a halal cake. Sheesh, I feel so _____ typing the previous sentence. This shows that my brain is infected after marking so many nonsensical scripts.

Oh, I forgot to make my birthday wishes.

1) More money
2) Win 4D
3) Strike Toto
4) Salary raise
5) Huge performance bonus
which will not come true.

so just be healthy and happy will suffice!

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Checking of Promo exam scripts

After assembly on 22 Oct (Monday), PU1 students will check their promo exam scripts.

Please make sure you are not absent and turn up punctually.

No changes can be made after 10 am

as I need to update the records by 11 am (deadline fixed by the school Exam Committee)

Therefore, it is your responsibility to check the scripts thoroughly and inform me the necessary changes.

If I cannot attend to your concerns at that particular moment,

take a piece of paper, write down the error, the correct mark and attach the paper to your script.

You CANNOT take the scripts home.

I have more than 200 scripts (Paper 1 and Paper 2) so please understand my constraints and pressures.

Thank you.


Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Haircheck on Wed

Haircheck tomorrow (Wed 17/10/2007) in home rooms after morning assembly.
Those who fail the haircheck are to sign-out according to procedure to get their hair done.
Parents will be informed.
Don't say I never warn you beforehand

Monday, October 8, 2007

It is the wRITE thing

I am so sick of bad handwriting.
There, I said it!

Day after day, I try to tell myself, "Be professional. There are hundreds, thousands or even millions of netizens reading your blog. Do not write anything that can get yourself in trouble."

At this moment, I just want to say, "This is my space and I just want to write whatever I am feeling right now."

If you are from MOE, I would advise you to stop reading because what you are going to read is not going to reflect well on my work performance and mostly likely, affect my bonus. (if I am going to get any this year after so many mistakes made)

After marking so many sub-standard essays, I question myself and the education system. Are we doing the right thing?

1. Poor, illegible handwriting

Writing is one of basic language skills. Why do some students, at the age of 17, 18 cannot even write proper A, B, Cs? I am not expecting longhand or cursive handwriting, just clear, legible written words which I do not need to decipher. Is that an 'a' or a 's' ?
Boys' handwriting are characterised by chicken scrawls. It seemed that they were upset by the exam questions so they were trying to make the marker's life difficult - write in code. If I cannot read, I cannot mark. Fail-proof strategy indeed. While I was marking such scripts, I was tempted to run to Popular bookstore to buy those Learn-To-Write ABC books so that these 'chicken scrawlers' can learn how to write again.

The most drastic measure I took while marking was to dig out a magnifying glass to read this girl's script because her words resembles an ant's handwriting (if ants could write).

The current trend of tYpiNg cApiTaL lEttErs with sMall lEttErs also appeared in some scripts. Once, I pointed out this MSN-inflicted habit when I was marking a Sec 2 student's work when I was at YISS. She scolded me in her blog and said that her 'long-term' teachers never had problems, why was I, the relief teacher, picking on her.

Why I am harping on such a insignificant issue? Handwriting reflects one's personality. Some human resource departments even select potential employees by handwriting analysis. Although we are moving to a tech-oriented society where one is required to have basic technological skills, handwriting is not going to be obsolete, at least not in our lifetime. One will need to take written examinations, take notes or even write Thank-You cards.

To share an amusing anecdote, during my teenage years, my best friends and I used to read letters written by our admirers and guess the person's personality. Those who chicken scrawled did not even get a date. Boys with flowery handwriting, dotting their 'i's with hearts are usually playboys. We ended up dating boys with clear, upright handwriting and their letters have minimal grammatical errors. This may seem like an irrelevant or superficial example. I thought, to students who care so much about their love life, one will understand why we pick these boys?

Linking back to the topic sentence, writing is the one of the basic language skills. If one is able to write well, it is probable that this person can communicate better. Hence, writing poetry or letters is one of the ways to win a girl's heart. Looking at the bigger picture, one's handwriting can influence one's grades, job prospects and future.

If you cannot decipher your own handwriting, in other words, unable to check your work after you have written it, you ought to consider learning how to write again. It is the Right (write) thing to do after exams.

That reminds me the thing I have to do now is get back to my marking.
MOE, please do not sue me. I'm just trying to de-stress! >_<"

Thursday, October 4, 2007

Nominees for leadership camp

In our quest to groom future leaders, the annual Student Leadership Camp will be held from

5 to7th November 2007 . This camp is meant to imbue our (about 140) student leaders with a sense of the schools’ core values and leadership perspectives, an opportunity for working among peers at organizing events.

These students will be likely candidates for Students’ and NE Council.

I have nominated 4 students from 07A7, please inform me if you have prior engagements on the particular dates above so that other students can take your place.


MUHAMMAD ZULHILMI B ZAINAL
HUMAIRA BTE ZAINAL ABIDEN

JAIGANESH PANNIRSELVAM
NURULHUDA BTE ZAYANI

* Final selection will depend on a holistic view of the student with input from the Discipline committee too. ( ie Nomination does not equal Confirmation)