Tag Archives: makes me: sad

Jan 31 2011

But it’s funny

1. Intent doesn’t matter. Words have meanings and if you hurt someone, you hurt someone.

2. If you hurt someone’s feelings, don’t tell them their feelings’ aren’t hurt. You may think it’s silly but don’t dismiss how others feel.

3. Racist jokes perpetuate the culture that it is ok to make fun of people because of their race, which allows the entrenchment of racism in our society.

Naming of bread unfortunate

POPULAR bakery Bread Talk has named a bread “Naan the Nay”, which mimics an insensitive allusion to the way Indians speak.

What is there to stop people of other races from starting to call other food items with similar insensitivity?

I had thought only children called each other such politically incorrect terms while at play. For a popular food outlet to resuscitate such names is unfortunate.

Sathesh Sivabalan

Jan 24 2011

2011

So much for ending 2010 on such a high note. 2011 has been kinda sucky so far. I’m just hoping that this means things can only get better right?

For those in the know, I’m not angry at anyone, especially not him. Certainly, he didn’t set out to hurt me. Perhaps life has been too good for too long and it’s now time for a little suffering. :)

Nov 23 2010

Letting Go

The school year has ended and this year, it has been hard letting go. It’s not just letting go of my form class which has graduated. I am also having difficulties letting go of being an ordinary teacher. When I step into school next year, I will have a new form class and a new role as Subject Head.

Usually, I’m all excited at getting new classes because it’s a clean slate and I have an opportunity to do things better than I did before. Unfortunately, that isn’t really the case next year. Firstly, the class I’ve just seen graduate I’ve taught for 3 years and been form teacher to for 2 years. I’ve had 4 form classes in my 7 years of teaching and this class is the one I’ve been closest to and the one I’m most attached to. As it is, it was so strange to go down for flag raising the past few weeks and not see them there since they were taking their O-levels. I have this fear that because I am going to be missing them next year, I’m not going to be able to stop comparing my new class to them, which is not fair to my new class (let’s call them 4A) . To be honest, I know that no matter how hard we try, my class next year will never live up to this class. I have taught 4A this year English and it was difficult. Rapport building took a long, long time and I’ve had a difficult time trying to care for them unconditionally. Also, I know the class is fragmented, don’t like each other and basically hate that they are in that class which is going to make work even more difficult for me. And when I inevitably compare them to the class I have now, I am worried I am going to short-change them.

While some part of me is a little excited at my new role in school, a bigger part of me is very sad at all the things I have to let go as a result. I don’t want to move from the general staff room into the HOD room for example. One of the biggest things I love about my school is the camaraderie and the atmosphere in the staff room. I want to sit with my friends and I want to be able to laugh, vent and joke with them. There are other things I will miss but I think I shan’t go into it here. It’s depressing enough.

Oct 17 2010

Saying Goodbyes and Hellos

It was the last day of school for my form class last Friday. The next time I see them, they will be sitting for their O-level papers. It’s going to be so strange to go to school next year and have them not be there. They aren’t my first graduating class but I think they are the ones I am the closest to.

I miss them already.

I already know what class I will be form teacher of next year. I teach them this year and will take over form teachership of them next year. At this moment, I don’t know how it will work out. My experience with this class this year has not been great – they’ve frustrated me most of the year and I return from their class angry a lot of the times, which does not make for a good relationship with the class. And I know I will compare them to my class this year and they are likely to fall short in my mind and it’s not fair for them. To be honest, I used to write individual notes to the students in my current form class but I cannot picture myself doing this for my class next year. I’m so worried I will do them a disservice next year by not being as fond of them as I am of my class this year.

Sigh. I need to go chat with my RO and VP I think.

Aug 26 2010

Sometimes it’s just not worth it

Students and social media – a horrible mix.

There’s been some conflict between a teacher and a class in school recently. Having heard the teacher’s side of the story, I’m more inclined to believe her because (a) I know the class and it does not surprise me that they act that way and (b) I trust the teacher isn’t lying, being a teacher myself. Of course, I could be wrong so I’m not going to talk about the conflict here. I will, however, talk about what has resulted from it.

I guess I should be thankful that the teacher in question is rarely active on facebook because one of the students has decided to put up status messages calling the teacher derogatory names and generally insulting the teacher. Although the teacher is not named in the posts, it is quite obvious to me and to the students of that level who the teacher is. And it upsets me that some of the students in my form class are “liking” those posts.

I never ever hated any of my teachers before. I might have found some of them boring. I might have found some of them naggy. But I’ve never hated them enough to go out of my way to hurt them. Yet a number of our students do. They take pride in getting the teacher to lose their temper or to break down in class. Then they mock the teacher in person, online, behind the teachers’ backs. And with things like facebook, one status message and you get the whole school dog-piling on the teacher.

Then when you tell them that teachers are humans and have feelings too, the standard response is to go pfft and say “I also have feelings what”.

Teaching sucks.

Aug 11 2010

Conflict and Resolutions

This is going to sound really vague. Don’t ask. I probably don’t want to talk about it IRL.

I hate conflict, which is why I usually go out of my way to avoid it. Sometimes I play mediator, other times I simply refuse to get involved. When put in the middle, I often try to be as non-committal as possible. If I do take sides, then I probably feel that this is an issue I care about.

Now, in a certain social circle of mine, there has been a great deal of conflict recently. Although I am in no way directly involved, I find myself being in a position where I might be forced to choose a side. This is quite upsetting as I have friends on both sides – although admittedly, I’m not very close to these friends from either side. At the moment, I feel like removing myself from the group altogether despite all the positive experiences I have had with them.

I guess I just wanted to get this off my chest.

Because I hate ending my posts with me being angsty and all, here’s something that is making me happy.

HERSHEY’S CHOCOLATE WORLD

I can’t wait.

Jul 24 2010

Sexism in the Workplace

I was sorting through some past year O-level oral passages when I noticed one about a Chemistry practical lesson in college. The storyline was basically about two girls who join the lesson. In the passage, it was emphasised twice that the girls were pretty and the key idea in the story was that these two pretty girls joined the lesson. The class, who seemed to be made up of boys only, liked that they were pretty but were sceptical about their abilities in the lab. Naturally, the boys were correct and the two girls were depicted as completely clueless about the dangers present in the Chemistry lab. In fact, they wanted to randomly mix chemicals and had to be educated by the (male) teacher that that was not a good idea. After that, the girls went off for lunch all giggly and happy.

In a lesson I was observing, a female teacher made a comment about how she wanted the class to keep quiet  and focus on her. In a bid (I assume) to be amusing, she said that she was selfish and liked people to pay attention to her like all women.

Both these incidences sadden me because it demonstrates the overwhelming presence of casual sexism in our society.