The Authoritative Status of a Teacher
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Over the last couple of days, I have been bombarded by talk shows on Channel U that revolved round the topic of teachers. One show had Xiaxue argue that if teachers do not want students to visit grammatically-problematic blogs, the teachers should educate the students not to visit these blogs, instead of commenting on the blogger (the teacher on the show was obviously targeting Xiaxue prior); the other had students expressing their views on blogging negative comments about teachers. If all these are not enough, the morning topic for 933 was "Experience with Teachers".
Personally, I, too, had bad experience with teachers. I was taped on the mouth when I was in primary school (for talking incessantly) and ordered to stand outside the class-room for the WHOLE day (I had visited the toilet without permission during reading period). Did I hate my teachers? No, I did not. Because I know I was at fault. But why are students today so defendant of their own actions even if they are at fault? Maybe they believe that the customer (student) is always right. Maybe they are thinking:"My parents pay taxes to let you teach me something and here I am being scolded by you. What the heck?!"
What I am advocating is quite simple. Maintain the authority of the teachers in the classroom and be prepared to face the music if you do something wrong. Don't take it personally that the teacher is chiding you in the class. (A teacher should never abuse that authority conferred to him/her though.) Outside the class, that level of authority can be brought down and I am for group-outing with students after class. What I sense is that youngsters are unable to differentiate the relationship in and out of class. They expect teachers to be nice to them in and out of class. I don't blame them for they are still growing up and this is part of the process.
Of course, in addition, a teacher should never show favoritism or discrimination in the class. I know its difficult, a teacher is with emotions and these will undoubtedly show up. The bottom line is that a teacher should be impartial and authoritative in class while showing his/her personal human touch outside curriculum.
Easier said than done. I shall see whether my advocations work when I am facing all the challenges as I embark on my teaching career in a few years.
posted byWilliam at 12:17 PM 0 comments
Get Online with a Mouse
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Andy sent me a link to a video clip; it's about a rabbit and a hamster trying to get online with a mouse. Have a good laugh and relax (I suppose people reading this might be taking a study break).
posted byWilliam at 11:25 AM 2 comments
Application for Accomodation in Lund, Sweden
I finally applied for an accomodation online. I have been put off by the fact that I need to navigate on a Swedish website. (Well, not quite; there is a English mirror site. But the main online application still needs to be done in Swedish.) The accomodation admin has sent me a step-by-step mail to navigate through the Swedish site; the problem is that they have changed one of the buttons on the site and "Ansök om bostad" could not be found. In the end I have to bash around the site to find the correct page. These were the words that I clicked:"Uppdatera din bostadsansökan en gång per termin!" Don't you think it is quite (or VERY) different?
I applied for a korridorrum (corridor room) in Sparta and was 9th on the waiting list. (It's not too bad to be the 9th, I was expecting a later queue number.) The monthly rate for the room is 2427 KR (~485 SGD); and for six months of accomodation it will cost me close to 3000 SGD. Compared to the States, I think it is cheap. I remember Bernice telling us that she had to work at a Co-op to get a rate reduction from ~1000 USD to ~300 USD (~510 SGD) in the States. I am checking my NUS mail now, still no news from IRO/ Lund University...
posted byWilliam at 10:57 AM 0 comments
Meeting with Edmund for YLF Singapore
Monday, October 24, 2005
I had a group-meeting (Lingesh, Laremy, Shane, Shamantha and Joseph were there too) with Edmund regarding the participation in Youth Leaders Foundation (YLF) Singapore. I was tired from the lab session and the test; closed my eyes for a few times during the meeting.
Just a bit on YLF. It is a non-governmental organization that envisioned to be the "foremost youth leadership developer in the world". They do this by partnering schools and providing resources for youth leadership development. There are chapters in Australia and New Zealand; the Singapore chapter was setup 2 years ago. Edmund covered many points. But the gist is that he is recruiting a core team of 15 members to formulate the syllabus for the leadership training workshops to be held for secondary and JC students. As members of this core group, we will also be the pioneer training facilitators for Boon Lay Secondary School.
This is not a chance to be missed. Leadership has always been my interest and I am excited to know that I might be able to join YLF to come up with the training programme for students. Work will start in December and will take us through January. I have not seen the actual template, which is a 45- module course from the States, that we are going to work with; for now, I am impressed with the visions and goals of YLF. The idea of giving back to the community really excites me; furthermore, it is through something I like doing: being a leadership trainer. But I'm a bit concern about not being with the team should I be accepted by Lund Uni for SEP next semester. Which by the way, reminds me that I have not received the letter from Lund. Maybe I should write to IRO to ask them.
posted byWilliam at 9:37 PM 0 comments
Lynn's Bday @ Aloha!
Sunday, October 23, 2005
The Saturday started off as usual: finishing up my Space, Time and Matter paper on Thermodynamics Time Arrow and revising some chemistry.
The evening was much more exciting: went to
A lady's scream greeted us as we neared the chalet; and I was thinking loud: this is a real party: naughty and happening. It was hard to get lost, actually:
The interior decor was fantastic.
The food were prepared by Lynn's aunts and her uncles were doing live BBQ. To commercially cater for this kind of food would cost much. Excellent food. Too bad I din snap a picture of the spread.
Like I said, this party was happening. After blowing out the candles,
So after a shower, Lynn opened our present and we bidded farewell.
posted byWilliam at 1:56 PM 0 comments
Nano-outing @ Crystal Jade
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Yesterday (18 Oct) was another busy Tuesday: the whole day was filled with lectures and ISM meeting with Loan, Harman and Dr. Kang (who was not around today). I'm glad that I did "not-bad" for my instrumental analysis mid-term test. And talking about this module, I skipped the tutorial to join Lijie, Jiatong and Qing Zhang for dinner.
We had nice conversations: talked about reality TV (just found out Lijie is a fan of reality TV like me), management and leadership, and of course relationship. And so we talked about our experience and pestered Lijie (the only gal :) for some dating tips. This is such a coincidence: all the gals whom I talked to for the past week thought that I have a sense of humor and should have no problem knowing people, getting attached. Sad (?!) to say, I am still single. Should I move on?
posted byWilliam at 1:00 AM 2 comments