It really has been quite a while! I've been most unhappy lately. I feel that I'm not appreciated by my school, I'm not appreciated by my Principal and HOD, I'm not appreciated by my students, I'm not appreciated by their parents, I'm not appreciated by my parents.

It always begs me to wonder, why am I doing all this? I have devoted a good portion of my life to the school, and to my students. My own form class students who took the A Levels in 2001 -- they were the best class of their subject combination in the end. But they were the worst of their combination throughout their career in the College! Where are they now? 2 DSTA Overseas scholars, 1 NUS Undergraduate Scholar, 3 SIA-NOL Undergraduate Scholars, 1 ASEAN Undergraduate Scholar, 1 LMS (Teaching) Scholar. And from my other classes? That's another 8 names in the College Day Handbook to make a total of 16. And my robotics students are mostly good in their studies. My care and concern for my students is unparallelled, and I train them like I would myself. My committment to my job is high.

I have never let the College down -- but the College has let me down more than once.

It's been a long time since I wrote anything. Argh! I've been so busy! I haven't done any of my regular web reading for a 2 weeks now. And I still need to prepare Olympiad notes for students ASAP!

And my arms are quite sore from the exercise session on Wednesday and yesterday.

Watching the NDP

It was National Day yesterday, the 38th National day since independence in 1965. I went to see the National Day Parade again this year. Actually, I'm a veteran of NDPs. I've been to more than 10 NDPs in my life -- lost count already. I've been a spectator most of the time, but I've been involved as part of the flashbook contingent, as a display item performer (TKD) and as an NDP cheerleader-motivator (yes, pom poms, singing and all...).

In the past, if you wanted to see the NDP, all you had to do was to queue from Saturday 3 pm to Sunday 10 am to be assured of a pair of tickets. But this year onwards, tickets were allocated by ballotting, so I guess I probably won't be going to the NDP so often now...

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I've been very busy in school. These days, I keep thinking if it's worth it. I don't know if I will have regrets when I'm older. I certainly hope not...

Here's a typical day as a JC Science teacher. Today...

I was in school before 7.30 am. After assembly, I had my breakfast. After that, I did some admin stuff -- register prep, forms sorting, etc. Then I went for a tutorial session. After that lesson, I had a meeting -- an academic one. After the meeting, I generated a report and then did some CT filing. Then it was time to mark some practical books.

I had lunch next, followed by a practical and a tutorial lesson. After that, I went to hunt for some students to pass them something. Then I briefed two of my baby engineers on IR remote control. After that it was time for another tutorial lesson.

After the lesson, my academic day was over at 3 pm. I informed another teacher of the absence of 2 students from my class, and then uploaded the latest project source code onto the eLearning platform. Then I proceeded to the lounge to finish reading the newspapers, as well as watch a snippet of Futurama and some other clips 2 GP tutors were testing.

Off to the canteen for a snack, and then it was time to go back to work. Helped students on IR remote work and other projects. Finished at 8.35 pm, discussed a bit more. Then off to dinner before returning at 9.30 pm for some more work. Did a practical solution. Discussed some more. And here I am.

One of my SSEF students (the strong one) came back with a Bronze, while the other one came back with a Merit. She started out as knowing nothing at all about electronics and microcontrollers and I'm glad she's picked up enough to be called a "technical" member.

This week, I've been working till 11 pm to 12 am almost everyday due to the SSEF and the other big event today. Such is the life of a JC science teacher.

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Sometimes I think I should quit service and do something else. Be an entrepreneur. Or to study to be a doctor. Or to do something meaningful in a Third World country.

I'm a JC teacher in Singapore -- in a Top-5 JC. For those in Singapore, you know they are HCJC, RJC, VJC, NJC and TJC. I've been teaching in my JC for almost 4 years now.

It's quite stressful being a dedicated JC teacher -- you have superiors, parents and students to deal with. Sometimes, I do think that being a teacher may not be a good deal. There are no hard skills that you possess. You lead a very different life compared to your peers. You wake up earlier and have more work than others, yet most of your work is marking, which is monotonous. You are often not appreciated. You don't accomplish anything tangible.

The only thing that keeps me going is that I know I'm enabling my students to lead a life that they won't regret.

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Some of my students always skip lessons and think up all sorts of excuses. I wonder why? And why they are so daring? We were never so daring when we were students!

Two of my "baby engineers" are going for the SSEF this week. One of them is very good, and the other teacher is supervising him. The other one is a bit weak technically, a bit procrastinating. I kept reminding her to see me, but she kept putting it off until today! And the set-up is on Thursday! I wonder how she's going to come back with a medal?!