#11 No Sherlock Required Here

One intelligent but dreamer of a kid spaces out everytime he's in class. In a class busy with projects and assignments, with blank papers on his desk, he constructs a rocket by stacking his coloured markers and has a one man space launch. Or he's caught doing something completely not required of him. He snaps out of a reverie when he's called on and often has a spacy look about him.

Growing tired of this I decided to investigate. Why should a well-spoken, seemingly well bought up child be so lost. So I said, "Jonathan, what do you do when you get home?" "I study for my exams," came the hesitant answer. "When it's not exam season what do you do? Do you watch a lot of television?" I tried again. "No, I play computer games," came the honest but apologetic reply. Now we were getting somewhere. "And what kind of games do you play?"

"I play SPACE RANGER 2."

Of course he did!

Working with little uncomplicated people is... AWESOME!

Image from here

PS: The author is busy pursuing a course part-time hence the few and far between entries, for now.

#10 Who is God's Dad?

A lesson on eponyms went like this:

Me: Can anyone spot other eponyms from the text?
Student: Yes, Christianity.
Me: And how do we get that word?
Student: It's from Jesus' surname.

Seeing things with simple eyes is.... AWESOME! and HILARIOUS!

#9 Turning the winds

Students were racing in the first eliminations for the annual sports day. Sometimes it's not the ones with the longest legs who have an advantage. A pint sized 10-year-old, clearly with something to prove, ran more with his heart than his legs. Every single time he was up, it was all or nothing.

And he had a bag of tricks. He zigged and zagged to cut his long limbed opponents off. He stuck his little chest out and simply willed his body to fly. But I noticed he had a secret weapon - his shorts. They were three sizes too big for him. When he ran, they seemed to catch the wind and work as a sail!

Seeing a little kid with a big heart and shorts to match is... AWESOME!!

#8 Making the boo boo better

They all fall down. At least twice a week, I find myself playing nurse. And the kids love to milk it for all its worth. They come to me with scratches that are only visible under a powerful microscope; and I baby them. For most of my 10 to 11-year-olds, this is one of the last few years for that. So I slather on some disinfectant, dab on some yellow ointment (I should find out what thats stuff really is) and tape them up before sending them off with a pat on their shoulder. And they gently limp away or clutch their wrists gingerly- whichever's hurt, reasured that someone cares about the phantom scratch.

I feel AWESOME when I make their boo boos feel better!

Image from here.

#7 HOLIDAYS!!

Enjoying a 5 day Chinese New Year break!
I love my job, but without a doubt, having school holidays off is one of THE MOST AWESOME things about being a teacher.

#6 Overhearing Little Criminals

Try eavesdropping on kids and you'll see they are already gearing towards certain stereotypes. Overheard between 9-year-olds today:

Boy 1: Is that four-wheel-drive your Dad's?
Boy 2: Yeah.
Boy 1: He should get a Hummer. Then he can rob banks and not worry about getting shot because it's bullet proof.

Seeing a notorious criminal of the future while he's still in school is...

AWESOME!

#5 Finding Laughable Errors

Kids were assigned to come up with sentences using the prefix 'bi'. This is what one little runt came up with:

Meaning of 'bi'- two.

1. I have bi-dogs at home.
2. It will take bi-days to reach our destination.
3. We have to take bi-trains to get home.

Bursting out in laughter in the middle of a work day is...

Bi-AWESOME!

And no doubt there will be more where these came from.