New Neighbour

Lately, in the building that I live in, a new foreign couple has moved in. As they live on the first floor with a large terrace, I bet they spent a lot of money to decorate their terrace with open kitchen and barbecue. Last night, it was their home-warming party. There were more than twenty guests in the party. You may wonder how I knew all about it since I just live on the third floor. From the bay window of my living room, I can overlook what they are doing. The party was very successful. I could hear a lot of yelling, talking (in English), pop music and laughter.... when I was marking the assignments of my students!!!! It was until 11 pm. The noise was even louder than before. First my wife called to report to the management office. Then, we reported the case to the police. The 'noise' went on until midnight when six policemen came to visit my new neighbour for the second time. Since then, they stopped. But what I think is they should be considerate. My wife had to work the following day. I know they are just young couple but they acted like children! We should be considerate by all means!

Smiles Not Tears

This evening, I visited one of my favourite teachers, Rosina who are still suffering from cancer since last year. She stays on the 21st floor in QM. Before I went there, I decided to buy some fruits as she could not eat too many things except fruits. Actually, she has gone through radiotherapy treatment for a few days. According to what I observed, she is still very weak physically but has a very good spirit. During my brief visit, we chatted but in a very special way. Because of the cancer, Rosina can't hear clearly as the cancer cells attacked her brain and ears quite seriously. She could only barely hear some sounds. So we communicated with each other in a special - a 'magic' clipboard. I wrote my messages in lieu of my speech and she read it and then answered me. We talked about our families, my work, her son and everything.....

To be honest, before I visited her, I told myself I shouldn't cry though I am a very sentimental person. But this time, I was very brave because I know that my visit was a joyful visit and I should bring happiness to Rosina. If I cry, she will follow suit. No doubt, crying is a way for one to release their emotions; however, sometimes, there is no use to cry over spilt milk. Eventually, I plunged up my courage and shared a lot with Rosina for almost 45 minutes. One thing I am sure is that I brought her smiles instead of tears!

Be strong and positive. You'll be back, Rosina.

A Social Gathering

After the PDC course in this morning, the participants and I had lunch at the IEd Chinese restaurant. I was late because I forgot I had to attend a meeting at 1 pm, but finally I arrived at 1:30. During the gathering, we chatted and had nice time. They talked about the schools they are serving and some businesses in our field. Around 2:30, I would like to foot the bill, but the participants told me that they would pay it for me. It's a surprise! How good they are! I am lucky to teach this group of teachers who are so nice and generous.

Part 1 & Part 2 of the Assignment

In ENG 3172E, there are two parts of the module assessment. I finished marking the Part 1 of the assignment and returned to my Yr. 4 Ss just in time for them to read through my comments before they turned in the Part 2 last week. The purpose of dividing ONE assignment into two parts is actually based upon the ideas proposed by my predecessor, Dave who tried out this assessment method in the not sure whether my students would find doing two parts instead of one is tedious. I hope that through this two-part assignment, they could develop a better understanding towards the good qualities of an assessment and the relationship between formative and summative purposes of assessment. I also wish that my feedback, mainly descriptive, could scaffold their learning in this module.

Happy Teachers, Happy Students

Currently, I am teaching a group of in-service teachers who come from various backgrounds. I was impressed with their patience and diligence. I remember when I planned this module last year, I was struggling how I should situate my module, to make it more academic or to make it more down-to-earth. After a week, I decided to use a mixed approach which introduces participants to some background knowledge and theories first (what) and then invites them to have some hands-on (how) by givning them more practical exemplars since they are expected to produce a middle scale assignment. Having finished preparing my course, I was still worried whether they would buy my idea. Luckily, I am very glad and fortunate to meet a group of experienced, conscientious and diligent teachers who have a heart to teach in this profession. One of the class representatives even drew me very beautiful seating plan so that I could call upon some participants when I elicited them for answers. Like today, we had two sessions of 3-hour sessions, meaning that they had to listen to me for almost 6 hours straight. I also felt touched when they were all present and came to the class on time. Not only are my participants experienced and professional teachers, but they are also very 'professional' students in our institution. I know some of them are still tied up with school work such as setting exam papers, having meetings, writing references for S.7 graduates and giving make-up class to students. I know I can't generalize all Hong Kong English teachers are so devoted from this small sampling size because I think there are always good 'guys' or bad 'guys' in each profession. I, definitely, have met a group of delicated teachers who really have a heart to make contributation in this field. I wish them all the success in their future career and happy in their teaching life. Why do I say so? In a seminar, one secondary school principal talked to the audience and said, "If we want our students to learn happily and effectively, we should make our colleagues happy first. And we shouldn't create any unnecessary workload for teachers. Make sure that they ought to come to the school with a happy face every single day." Though this is a very simple concept, it is true and sincere. I remember what he said up until now even this seminar was held a few years back.

Grabbing 'the Best'

One of my students told me that she got a job interview on Wednesday. This was good news. She told me that the principal and the deputy asked her to consider whether she would accept the job offer even before they would see her again in the second interview next Monday. What I appreciate is that principals are very efficient nowadays. As we know, they are extremely busy people in schools. My student also told me that she had another job interview at 10 tomorrow, but actually she faxed her CV to the school principal around 5 this evening. You can't imagine how effective this principal is. These two episodes imply that good teachers are very difficult to find nowadays. My student definitely is a very strong candidate because she is an English major and got a very high GPA. More than that, she could teach PTH as she minored putonghua in our institution. From the perspective of principals, albeit being efficient, they have to grab 'the best' candidates in a very short while. This incident can be confirmed by one of my PDC participants who told me some undergraduates would breach the contract though they have signed it because they have a lot of good options to choose from. Being a principal in Hong Kong is not easy!

PDC

Today, I had a chance to talk to some of the participants of the PDC-TBG during the talk. Some told me it was very difficult to enroll in the refreshing course . Then, I asked them why because most of these participants are senior form teachers and most of their S.5 and S.7 students have gone, so they should have more free lessons to take professional course in the IEd. One lady said, "My principal didn't like me to take courses here as supply teacher can't take up some of my duties." One young man said, "Though I can be here now, I need to go back to sit in a few meetings and set the exam papers." Only one lady said she was recommended by the principal to join the course.

From this conversation, I understand that working in schools is not easy nowadays. I also know sending one teacher to IEd to take PD course involves a lot of resources such as hiring supply teachers, asking other colleagues to take over certain duties and so forth. However, one thing we shouldn't overlook is that teacher is the most valuable asset in a school in comparison with computers and some fixtures. Training teachers to become more professional means to upgrade the workforce and enhance the effectiveness of teaching and learning in school though schools may sacrifice some short-term benefits like fewer teachers sharing out the duties. In the long run, who benefits most? --- students. If we think education is for and about students' well being, teachers, the most valuable resources in school, should be well-treated not ill-treated, well-trained not unprepared for challenges and last of all well-respected not neglected.

Hope my participants can enjoy these 5-week PDC and learn something practical and useful from May, Liz and me.

Wedding

This afternoon, I attended my colleague's wedding ceremony. The occasion was holy and romantic. During the ceremony, a pastor talked about the oath between husband and wife. Yes. It's true. Whenever couples get married, they do say the oath, but how many couples would remember the oath they promised some years ago in the church or marriage registry office?

I think the art of maintaining good relationship among couples is honesty and appreciation. Without being honest, husband and wife lose trust and hassles and rows may follow suit. If a couple could always appreciate each other, their life would be nice and complete. I think we all know no one is perfect in the world. We all have our talents and strengths which others may lack. That's why a couple can support and help each other when you are in need and in trouble. This is also the married life.

Marriage is a blessing not a curse. From now on, I have to remind myself of the oath I said seven years ago. It's important. Oftentimes, we are generous to others but not the one closest to us. Our spouse is also our soulmate who would understand, support, and love us most other than our parents. So, do say something sweet or do something romantic even during the normal days, or at least on Valentine's Day. Love is all around.

Mother's Day

This evening, I celebrated Mother's Day with my mother-in-law. You are right. This year, I only dined out with my mother-in-law not because I forgot my mother, but because she flew to LA and stays there with my dad for a month. I told her after she comes back from the States, I will buy her a gift to make up for Mother's Day.

On top of Mother's Day, I think I should have dinner with my mother-in-law as I haven't seen her since the Chinese New Year. I feel a bit guilty because I'm terribly busy and tied up with all sorts of responsibilities. Anyway, my mother-in-law is a very understanding lady and treats me very well. She knows I love Chinese soup. Whenever I visit her, she must prepare the soup for me. Actually, her cooking skill is superb and she can create a lot of dishes. In addition, we have a lot of talking points. Like this evening, we talked about travelling and some funny anecdotes in the airport. Then, we planned to purchase a flat in Quarry Bay as the price will go up in the next few months. She also told me how to play 'Taiwan' mahjong. Having heard about the rules of the game, I felt a bit amazed and she even compared Cantonese and Taiwanese mahjong. When we sit down and talk, we can go on and on. As a lot of people said, my mother-in-law is a good one and I'm also proud of being her son-in-law.