Our story
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
i find this blog boring cause nobody takes the initiative to post.
and somebody kept complaining and complaining and complaining but he, himself don't want to post.
irritating right?
anyway, enjoy the SPEECH DAY pictures ok?.
some picture may be ugly.
so please ignore.
ANYWAY, HAPPY BELATED TO APRIL BABIES.
=D
XOXO-ASHIKIN ♥
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
I am very disturbed and stressed by what happen in class just now.
I don’t want the class to fall apart
Neither do I want each and everyone of us to argue.
Sorry zhongping that I wasn’t there to console you when you cried.
I was also crying at that point of time cause you face all the consequences yourself on the behalf of the whole class.
I am so touched.
However, I didn’t expect that this kind of thing would happen to us, 5NA.
I hope that we would be together back as one.
i hope that we really make the effort to change, not as individual, but together.
i hope we can resolve this problems fast and get back to our lesson.
(:
Yours sincerely
ASHIKIN.
Firstly, I want to applaud all the people who spoke up in a very stressful situation, and who were also courageous enough to own your reflections. You did not have to, because the promise was that your reflections would be kept anonymous. I am sorry I did not honour that promise as I thought it would help us to come closer to a solution if I aired some of your concerns. But as Wei Kim pointed out, perhaps it was not the right time to do so today. I am also grateful that many of you were willing to share your reflections, because I know you believe that this will help the situation to move forward.
Until reading all of your reflections, I must say I honestly did not know there was so much stress and unhappiness in the class. I need to make it clear that I did not take action because of complaints from students. Hearing from Wei Kim and some others just confirmed that it was time for me to do something about a situation that I had found very unhealthy for quite a while, based on feedback from teachers and largely from my own assessment as well.
I chose to take such drastic action today for the following reasons:
1) After my experience last year, where a minority of students in my form class made it difficult for the majority to excel, I do not want to a see a repeat of the same situation. As a teacher I feel I have let my students down by not stepping in to protect those who want to learn. However, I will say this: at the end of the day, regardless of what is happening in class, people who want to study and put in the effort will achieve the results they deserve. The hardworking ones who remained "silent," focused and persevered made it to JC, MI and the polytechnic courses of their desire. Those who chose to waste their time were disappointed with their results. The tragic part was that some of the really weak students who tried their very best but could not learn in a noisy environment really suffered. That is what I want to prevent.
2) Similarly, after my experience last year, I am of the opinion that it is difficult for people to change their behaviour in a short time. It is not that I don't have faith that people can change, but it takes years for real change to occur. Unfortunately, time is not on our side. I guess last year, I had the experience of putting a lot of time and effort into monitoring a minority of students regarding their behaviour, and I saw very little progress, even when they came to collect their O level results. This really broke my heart and spirit. I know this is a different class, and you are all different individuals. But at this point, I feel I have done my best as a form teacher to work with those who are making it difficult for others to learn. It is now more important for me to focus my attention on those who want to learn.
3) Finally, as an educator, I want to make it clear that there is no reason why bullying, whether physical, verbal or emotional, should be tolerated. Our classroom should be a safe place for everyone. Maybe some of you have put up with such situations for years, or you have seen teachers just put up with the situation for years, but I refuse to let this continue any longer. If you cannot stand up for yourself now in a reasonable way, what will you do when you go out into society? If you cannot learn to be considerate towards the needs of others and work with them, how will you keep a job or even start a family in future? If we cannot learn to overcome our differences and work to make our classroom safe for everyone, what hope is there for the world?
Miss Ruby
PS Can someone please fix the scrolling tagboard?! And the spelling errors?! :P
Sometimes , i really dont know if we should help you guys . You know when you call some of them to confess today , its like you took them as " betrayers " . From what Mr Koh say , no one's angel , i totally agree with it . ya no one's angel , then why people " ask for help " from teachers , cause maybe somehow they just say some things that happen , but maybe its because lots of complains , recieved by Ms ruby , that's why she took action in asking you 4 out .
Now , We as whole class not wanting any of you out , cause we are A CLASS.Maybe there's something you all should do , why don't the the other 3 of few , think calmly like raymond . seriously , i find him , understanding enough . Although you all kept asking who's the betrayer but why don't think what's so bad that made people in our class feel so uneasy that they "complain " or " voice out " . What's the point of knowing who ? right ?Know what , why not the whole 5NA take last year sec 5N as a role model, their whole class was so united , all boys went to cut slope tgt , just to study . I mean there's no need for cutting slope but AT LEAST , listen attentively and help each other when in need . correct ? although there can be jokes said at times , but i hope its an harmless joke . LISTEN to people point of view about us :D
I just hope all of US in 5NA , could just
Pay close attention in every lesson , TRY not to slack .
To be grateful for what we've , be more understanding and appreciative .
& lastly everyone should treat others fairly, if we want to study so do them , but just that they are playful , so everyone , what's your unhappiness please tell them KINDLY , and not to keep them isolated . NOT only to 4 of them , if any other classmates them something you felt uneasy just say alright !
PS. Raymond and group , don't be so extreme , ms ruby & class maybe too harsh in some way but they just wants a conducive environment . SO DONT ISOLATE yourselves, people ! we are sorry , and we've learn our mistakes so i hope you guys makes the effort to change your mistakes too aright ?
WE ARE ONE CLASS !
HEIDI
I'm here to admit that I was one of the person who gave the feedback to Miss Ruby.
First of all, I didn't admit it in class today as my emotional intelligent told me that, that was not the right time. The guys was so mad about it and what can I do or say if I were to admit? My deepest apologies to Zhong Ping! I'm sorry! It hurts to see you being accused by the guys, yet I didn't admit. It hurts when I saw you cries, yet I was there doing nothing. I'm really sorry about it! I just can't imagine what's gonna happened if I stood up... The guys said that we should voice out. Voice out? Does that really works when they don't even listen to our teachers?
Secondly, I'd no intention to cause all of you into troubles. Could you please spare some thoughts for us? Take yesterday as for example, I don't know if you guys have completed your work or not, but when I got back to the class, just started with my speech, I heard noises! I can't think when my surrounding is noisy! Can you? Maybe you could, but had you thought for the others? We spare some thoughts for you, and who is sparing thoughts for us? You? I don't know. For your information, I completed my speech at 4 plus. What about you? I've no objections that you are making noises, just that could you all please do it else where or at least outside the class?
Well, I didn't expected that things would turned out this way. My biggest apologies to all you as today we've missed out our maths lesson. I believe that Miss Ruby is a very good teacher, and no one would wants to disappoint her. I really hope that we can work hand in hand in order to achieve our goals!
Sorry guys, I didn't know that you'd felt being backstabbed. I truly hope you could spare some thoughts for us...
-WEI KIM-
