School Demands

It's the eve of Hari Raya Haji.
And biased as I am, I'd like to wish everyone out there a
Selamat Hari Raya~!

Been a while since I've found the inspiration to blog. Lately, I've been
returning home mentally exhausted, my body still possessing the physical
strength to carry on, but my head so heavy-laden and numb, and my eyelids
feeling so heavy Brock Lesnar couldn't have done a F-5 with them.

I would switch on the computer, clear my email, read some of the posts at
Singapore Bike Forums, reply very selectively, and then…constrained by
my immense fatigue, I would switch of the computer abruptly without having
planned to do so, and tromp off to bed to lie down and rest my eyes. Heck,
sometimes I don't even have the energy to switch off the computer and just
leave it running while I slink off to LALA land, only to be dragged back to
reality by my dad, asking me if I was still using the computer. If I wasn't too
tired, I'd climb up and either use the computer for a while longer, or if I were,
I'd ask my dad to switch it off for me.

School is mentally sapping. I found myself absent-mindedly doing silly things
that I would have laughed at if someone else had done them. Shows my state
of mind when I'm really, really tired. In fact, the only time I've truly come
awake lately is when I'm on my bike. And it's a good thing or I'd probably
have done something stupid on the road due to my fatigue levels. I don't know
why, but I think I've been having pretty early nights which by right should have
compensated for the mental energy I'm expending in school.

School is rewarding though. When you praise them for a job well done, and
their faces crack open into a sweet smile or a grin. They are so hungry for my
approval they even resort to telling me things like 'Mr Seah, I have a tuition
teacher' like it really matters. But if they've been good I'd indulge them with
a 'very good' or something along those lines.
I recently gave out the award for diligence. I had the class vote and as expected,
the little goons enthusiastically raised their hands at the first choice, only to
realize that they couldn't raise their hands again to support the one that they
really wanted to win. And so the vote tally from the 1st to the 4th respectively
was 14, 9, 5, 1. And the poor girl who I thought deserved the award the most
didn't get it because hers was the 2nd name I called. They were all so delighted
when they were nominated, but when they realized that they hadn't won, their
faces crumbled so visibly…and I just HAD to do something for them. And so
during my free period, I designed a little badge for them, cut it out and gave it
to the remainding 3 nominees. The surprised pleasure that shone on their faces
was so worth the effort in skipping my breakfast just to complete the badge on
time. Undoubtedly, the 'failure' to get the award had been playing in their mind,
and I hope what I did took their mind off that. At least they can go home and
tell their mother they got an award, rather than be deprived just because the
school could only provide me with one badge.

There was a very intriguing episode that I experienced during the first week
of school. I'd mistakenly given the students homework on the 2nd day of
school, and to make amends I allowed them till the 4th day to hand it up. On
the 4th day itself, I also allowed them a period of half an hour to complete
their homework before handing it in to me. Thus, I was pretty irked when
four or five students inexplicably handed in books that had pages that were
supposed to be completed blank. And so I emulated what I’d seen many a
time in my schooling days. I drew a big question mark and put a footnote
at the bottom of the page to 'SEE ME!'
During that lesson, I took each of these errant pupils aside and lectured them,
and asked them to complete their work. Each one did so and handed the book
to me, and I marked them on the spot together with the other corrections. And
so I considered the matter settled.

And so I was rather perplexed when a page came in from the General Office
while I was in the staff room happily doing my own things, saying that the
parent had arrived and was waiting for me. I was like 'wtf? what parent??'
When I went down, the clerk told me that the parent of my math student that
I had asked to see was waiting outside the office. I was like '??? since when
did I ask to see a parent?' But turning outside, I saw the lady with her
daughter (the one I thought should have won the award for diligence) waiting
patiently outside the office. I went out to see what she wanted.

The conversation was in mandarin and translated, goes something like this:

Me: Yes ma'am? Can I help you?

Mother: (Voice dripping with politeness) Teacher, you wanted to see me?

Me: Uh…no…

Mother: Oh, because I was going through my daughter’s math workbook
and I saw the 'See Me', so I thought you wanted to see me.

Me: Oh no! The 'See Me' was meant for your daughter. I wanted to see her
during class, and I've seen her already. So everything's been settled.

Mother: What was that about?

Me: She didn't complete 2 pages of the homework I gave, and so I asked her
to see me so I could tell her to complete her homework.

Mother: Haiz, this girl always gives me a headache. Why didn't you listen to
your teacher? Why didn't you do your homework? *yadda yadda the
way mothers complain about their children*

(I thought that was rather unfair to her daughter coz she was basically a
sweet and obedient child in class, but I kept my peace…)

Mother: *done with complaining* Hurry up and say sorry to your teacher!

Me: um..

Daughter: …..

Mother: Quickly! Listen to me…say sorry to your teacher!

Daughter: Sorree~~ *in a quivering voice as she started crying*

Me: *heart melt….fark…* …….

Mother: Louder…c’mon..

Daughter: Sorry *sobbing*

Me: …its ok…just remember to do your homework next time, ok?

Daughter: *nods, wiping her tears with the back of her hand*

Mother: Sorry teacher for giving you so much trouble *extremely apologetic
tone*

Me: It's alright..

Mother: Say thank you…

Me: *pengZ!! Kana screw until cry still say thank you?? *

Daughter: Thank you…*sniffle*

Me: Sorry ma'am, but I'm kinda busy now, if you don't mind I'll be getting
back to my work.

Mother: Ok. Thank you teacher~

When I told XL the story he laughed till pengZ. A parent misunderstanding
the 'See Me'….I don’t think I’ll ever write that in their books anymore…

Riding hard, fast, safely AND taking a few corners.