ABCs OF FRIENDSHIP

A true friend:

Accepts you for who you are
Believes in you
Calls you just to say 'hi!'
Doesn't give up on you
Envisions the best for you
Forgives your mistakes
Gives unconditionally
Helps you
Invites you over
Jokes with you
Keeps you close at heart
Likes you for who you are
Never judges without reason
Offers support
Picks you up
Quiets your fears
Raises your spirits
Says nice things about you
Tells you the truth
Understands you
Values you
Walks beside you
"X"-plains things you don't understand
Yells when you won't listen and
Zaps you back to reality!


Have you found a good friend who is like the above?

Are you presenting yourself as a good friend to others?

SAMPLE RECOUNT (1)

On the eve of chinese new year, I woke up early in the morning to help my mom with the household chores. Subsequently, I sat down with my dad to watch a movie. At dinner time, I helped to set the table and to dish out the food for my parents because I thought they should take a rest after working so hard for the whole day, especially my mom. When I sat down at the dinning table, I became a little wistful because I started to miss the presence of my older brother, who was working in New York. We had a delicious meal but my favorite dish was the salmon sashimi! After reunion dinner, I sat down with my parents to watch the programs showing on channel 8 and at the same time, I emailed my brother to catch up with him. He told me he was very excited that he was going to have Hainanese chicken rice for his reunion dinner. That ecstasy over Hainanese chicken rice was quite amusing to me because I am quite tired of that dish! Although the day was mundane, I am thankful for the day of rest and the time I got to spend with my family!


On the first day of chinese new year, I went to visit my auntie who stays in the East. As most of my relatives live in either Malaysia or Taiwan, my auntie was the only family I needed to visit. After a sumptuous lunch, there was nothing much to do. Since I was bored and did not want to waste my time sitting there pretending to watch the television, I took out 3I’s assignments to mark! For doing that, my cousin-in-law laughed at me. Nevertheless, I felt a sense of achievement because I did not waste my time. Honestly, I wanted to go home very badly because there were many other things I could do at home, like sleeping, playing the piano or guitar and reading.


Towards the end of the day, I began to miss my relatives in Malaysia. This is because I am very close to them and whenever I visit them over chinese new year, we always have tremendous fun playing mahjong, chatting and laughing! A pity I did not travel to Malaysia this chinese new year. -.-

1.wistful (adj)- regretful longing
2. ecstasy (noun)- great happiness
3. mundane (adj)- boring/ordinary
4. sumptuous (adj)- expensive looking
5. tremendous (adj)- very great in amount

JOURNAL (3)

With proper paragraphs and in at least 1 page of your English Journal, write a recount of the things that happened on the eve of chinese new year and the first day of chinese new year. Be sure to include:

1. WHEN it happened
2. WHERE it happened
3. WHO was involved
4. WHAT happened

WRITING SKILLS (3)

A recount tells us...

1) The events in the past
2) WHEN it happened
3) WHERE it happened
4) WHO was involved
5) WHAT happened

Write a recount using

1) A logical sequence eg. morning/noon/evening/night
2) Past tense
3) Action words (verbs)
4) 'I'/'We'

WRITING SKILLS (2)

Words to begin a new point/sentence

• Firstly, ...(if this is the first point you making)
• Next, ...
• In addition, ...
• Moreover, ...
• Furthermore, ...
• Also, ...

Words to link TWO ideas into ONE sentence

• Although I was afraid of failing, I tried
• Since my parents did not understand me, I stop talking to them
• Despite the failures I faced, I continued to strive for good results
• Even if others don’t appreciate me, I will still continue to be nice to them
• Perhaps/Maybe I won’t be appreciated, but it doesn’t matter
• I stopped working hard because I was afraid I would fail if I work hard
• I stopped working because I was lazy
• If my parents force me, I will run away
• Sometimes it is easier to tell others what to do compared to doing it yourself
• My brother is ill, therefore he cannot go to school today
  
• He wanted to buy some salt but the shop was closed
• He scalded his hand badly so he went to see the doctor

IMPROVE YOUR ENGLISH (FUNNY!)

I showed this to you before, but it's so good and hilarious that we can watch it again!

TO SWITCH OFF THE BACKGROUND MUSIC- scroll down to the bottom and click on pause

*beep*
may day, may day
hello, can you hear us? can you hear us? can you...
over!
We are sinking!! WE ARE sinking!!!

Hello, this isz thz german coooastguard

We are sinking!! we are sinking!!

Whart are you... thinking about?

CHINESE NEW YEAR CELEBRATION IN SCHOOL

At 7.15am, flag raising as usual.

At 7.45am, all the Sec 3s jogged 2 rounds around the school- estimated to be 2.4km.

At 8.35am, new year goodies were given out. The goodies were a packet of peanuts and a green file for each student and an ice-cream for each teacher. I appreciate the ice-cream from the school but I think it must be one of the weirdest ice-cream I have ever tasted -.- and the earliest time of the day where I have eaten an ice-cream.

At 8.45am, we went up to the school hall for concert performances put up by the students. I enjoyed 2H's, 3G's and 4I's performance the most. 2H was very very creative with music and lyrics, 3G was informative and at the same time hilarious, 4I was okay in terms of information but super hilarious! I was glad for these classes, otherwise the performances would just be very ordinary and conventional (*conventional means very mainstream/common/traditional).

Dear 3I,

the next class activity would be cross country run at Chinese Garden on 13th february. I hope more of you would turn up for such class activities because

1. You get to go out of the 4 walls of the classroom and step into the open- enjoy the view of being under the big blue skies with the cool breeze blowing at your skin, with over 1000 others with you.

2. You get to see your friends from other classes all the time, instead of just during change of periods or recess time

3. Be a sport! (meaning be adventurous!) Don't coop yourself at home! Do something different! Do something you wouldn't do on your own! Do something together with those you hardly would do things together with!

4. Lastly, I get to strike interesting conversations with you without the hurry of time or the burden upon my shoulders to get you to talk less and finish your English assignments (like what always happens in the classrooms)


One of the interesting conversation that still makes me laugh (at myself)

cheng han: where did you buy your pants from? Bugis?

Miss chang: *shocked and confused* Bugis!?!? How can it be Bugis? Pants from Bugis not working.

cheng han and samuel: *big eyes and with mouths opened* HUH! not working? Pants can work one ah! *muahahahahhahahahahhaa-cannot stop laughing*
-.-

Thanks for correcting me. :)
I was demonstrating to you the importance of speaking clearly and hence, the importance of doing well in ENGLISH! :D

HEADLESS COCKROACHES & HEADLESS CHICKEN

I have a friend who is a surgeon- one who operates on human bodies in the operation theatre
to fix body parts that have malfunctioned. When she was studying to become a surgeon, before they could operate on human bodies, they first operated on insects and animals, because one CANNOT make any mistake when operating on human bodies, and therefore, they had to first try on animals and insects instead of human beings.

This was what she found out.

1) If you cut off the head of the cockroach, the cockroach can still go on crawling and continue to live for 3days!

So there was once, her teacher told them to kill a chicken, and apparently to kill a chicken, you have to take it by its neck and swing it until the neck breaks. (my friend is 40 over years old, so she had a very primitive way of killing chickens). So all the students took the chicken by the neck and swing it and when the neck broke, the chicken fell off and all the headless chickens instead of dropping dead, were found walking around headlessly, with blood spewing off their necks!

2) Hence, if you chop off the head of the chicken, the chicken can still go on walking for 3 hours, with blood spewing off its neck.

HOW COME?
The reason why the cockroach can live for 3 days without its head is because the breathing mechanism of the cockroach isn't in its head. And since it doesn't need a lot of nutrients to survive, it can still live for 3 days without its head.

As for the chicken.. since it can still stay alive for 3hours without its head, u can tell that it doesn't use its brain a lot!

I just thought these facts are really interesting and hilarious!

Recently I have been watching the korean drama on channel U over the weekends, from 730-930pm. It is a show about surgeons who operate on the patients. As I was watching the show today, I was thinking it is like soooo amazing that the doctors can cut open our skin to reveal the organ beneath the skin- make the necessary changes to our organ, and sew our skin back such that we don't go around walking with a hole in our body.

But how did they do that? Our smallest organ is still as big as our fist(!) so doesn't that mean the wound should be quite BIG, but the stitches on anyone who has had operation doesn't seem to be HUGE. Just find it quite interesting and I am curious..

JOURNAL (2)

With proper paragraphs and in 1 page of your English Journal, write a letter to me and tell me about your greatest fear in life.

Your letter must include :

(a) WHAT is your greatest fear (please don’t write about insects/computer crashes/losing handphone- I don’t think that should be your GREATEST FEAR in life

(b) WHY is that your greatest fear

(c) HOW are you coping or planning to cope with this fear right now.
*Feel free to write more if you wish, but the 3 points above are essential (esssential=compulsory)



WRITING SKILLS


Dear Miss Chang,

My greatest fear in life is .... (paragraph 1)




This is my greatest fear because ... (paragraph 2)




Although this is my greatest fear, I want to overcome it one day.
I have been trying to overcome it by...
(paragraph 3)



Yours sincerely, (signing off)

xxxx

JOURNAL (1)

I am chasing work.. Some of you haven't done it! BY WEDNESDAY!!!

Choose ONE question to answer:

(1) With proper paragraphs and in 1 page of your English Journal (a) tell me the qualities you look for in a girlfriend/boyfriend and (b) the qualities you don’t want to find in a girlfriend/boyfriend.

OR

(2) With proper paragraphs and in 1 page of your English Journal (a) tell me the qualities you look for in a best friend (b) the qualities you don’t want to find in a best friend.

WRITING SKILLS

STEP 1: THINK OF THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF QUALITIES
Eg.
Looks
Character
Interests

STEP 2: ORGANIZE ONE PARAGRAPH FOR ONE QUALITY

Paragraph 1
Qualities on LOOKS

Paragraph 2
Qualities on CHARACTER

Paragraph 3
Qualities on INTERESTS

STEP 3: RECALL SUITABLE WORDS YOU CAN USE TO DESCRIBE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF QUALITIES
Please refer to the worksheet I gave you, I can't copy and paste that table

WHAT IS LOVE?

1. Do you want to know if people really love you when they say 'i love u' to u?
2. And how do you show in action that you truly love someone if you say and really think you love them? (continue reading....)

LOVE IS...
Longsuffering AND
Kind(suffers for a long time but still continue to care and be kind without complains- i think of my parents:i really gave them a lot of trouble when i was young :|)
LOVE IS NOT...
jealous
boastful (show off your partner)
proud(refuse to admit mistakes/your weaknesses even though you know you are wrong)
rude (not care about other's feelings)
demanding your own way(just want things to work well for you)
easily angered
keeping record of misunderstanding/wrongs/problems


LOVE BEARS ALL THINGS
LOVE BELIEVES ALL THINGS
LOVE HOPES ALL THINGS
LOVE ENDURES ALL THINGS


at any point in time, i am sure we cannot achieve all of the above immediately.
The above is the IDEAL. The IDEAL is good, because it gives you something to work towards and helps you to see for yourself who is really true to you, and who isn't.
And also teaches you how you can express your love for someone, because a lot of times we feel saying is not enough.
I think our parents really can satisfy quite a lot of the above.
If you are thinking 'HUH?? parents??
Isn't it talking about BGR??'
In the next post i will write about the different types of love!

A random reflection on health

Nowadays, whenever I get sick, I will do a google. It's good I think, because I get to learn about more things.
I did not like reading when I was in Secondary school. I think it was because my parents kept forcing me to read and my brother was ALWAYS reading, so I got irritated and I totally did not want to read at all.

But as I grew older, I started to like reading because:

1. I learn about new things- and I like learning about new things!

2. I get to know what are the thoughts of other people and hence it improves my own perspective of things

Guess what I learnt? (Don't read it before lunch).
This word is a special treat for people who read blog for 3i

Diarrhoea commonly results from gastroenteritis caused by viral infections, parasites or bacterial toxins.^[2] In sanitary living conditions where there is ample food and a supply of clean water, an otherwise healthy patient usually recovers from viral infections in a few days. However, for ill or malnourished individuals diarrhea can lead to severe dehydration and can become life-threatening without treatment.^[3]

Diarrhoea can also be a symptom of more serious diseases, such as dysentery, cholera, or botulism, and can also be indicative of a chronic syndrome such as Crohn's disease or severe mushroom poisoning syndromes. Though appendicitis patients do not generally have violent diarrhea, it is a common symptom of a ruptured appendix. It is also an effect of severe radiation sickness.

So some food MUST have poisoned me.
I am keeping my toes up for canteen food.

tricky word

how to spell diarrhoea?
yes. it is D-I-A-R-R-H-O-E-A!

DIAR like diary

add one more R

HOE image below is a HOE then add an A

Learning new words 1

1. Plight (noun)
A condition, state, or situation, esp. an unfavorable or unfortunate one: to find
oneself in a sorry plight.

When his parents passed away unexpectedly, I felt sorry for the plight he was in.

2. Discipline (noun)

A branch of instruction or learning: the disciplines of history and economics.

John did not know which discipline to choose for his ITE education.

3. Striving (verb)

To make strenuous efforts toward any goal: to strive for success.

John was striving to provide for the family after his father passed

away.

4. Crucial (adjective)

Involving an extremely important decision or result; decisive; critical: a crucial experiment

Marriage is a crucial decision that should not be made carelessly.

5. Barrier (noun)

Any natural bar or obstacle: a mountain barrier

The fear of failing was an emotional barrier John had to overcome one day.

6. Qualifications (noun)

Any natural bar or obstacle: a mountain barrier

As long as you can show that you can play well, to be a musician, you don’t really need to have high qualifications.

7. Labelled (verb)

To put in a certain class; classify

For many years, the Jews have been labelled as God’s chosen people.

8. Mundane (adjective)

common; ordinary; banal; unimaginative

Although I was doing mundane activities with my niece and nephew, I enjoyed myself thoroughly

9. Peripherals (noun)

An auxiliary device, such as a printer, modem, or storage system, that works in conjunction with a computer

Getting a computer involves getting many other peripherals like a printer and modem.

10. Stint (noun)

A period of time spent doing something: a two-year stint in the army

I was offered a 1year stint at Disneyland, during my school holidays.

Not in school today

Sorry 3i, I will have to leave you in the capable hands of mr john ng today, as I started having an unexpected fever and severe body pain and stomach discomfort yesterday night. On the way home on mrt after work, at about 8pm, i felt like i was 'dying' on the train. (super uncomfortable!)

I took panadol when I reached home at 9pm, but this morning when I woke up, I still have a fever. I don't know why am I suddenly sick when I was well in the day.
I feel very bad giving Mr John Ng 5 periods of you to take care of and feel very bad that I will miss 5 periods of classes with you today.

Please(!!) listen to Mr John Ng and be on task today.
See you for English again next tuesday!

Welcome gift 5- My 200% and commitment to seeing you EXCEL!

WELCOME GIFT 5-

My 200% &

Commitment to seeing you EXCEL!

(want the best things to happen to you

at all circumstances)

This is the hardest post to write. I don't know how to start and I don't know how to write it well such that you will not only understand but also handle the information maturely and respectfully. I will try my best to write it well. Here goes!

Some of you might not know, but I teach in FMSS under a 1 year contract where I can decide at the end of the year, if I want to stay in the school or leave the school. My first year in the school was with 4i 2007. After doing that stint, I did not want to continue in the school anymore for various personal reasons. However, I decided to take up the assignment in 2008, when they offered me amongst other things, 2i 2008. I took it up because of you 2i. Not because of the 'other things' they offered me.

At the end of 2008, I decided to continue teaching you, because I wanted to. Although there were several personal reasons that attracted me not to return to fmss, I still came back, because I want to be with you 1 more year, and if possible, see you graduate, and then stop teaching at fmss.

You might be wondering, why am I telling you all these?

I am not asking you to be grateful to me or tell me that you like me the most out of all the other good teachers the school has given you. It is also not a scheme to get your attention about how 'good' I am or how 'noble' I am, so that you will become inspired and changed by me or listen to me only. NO! I am not like this! Please don't misunderstand me. I know there are a lot of other teachers better than me and smarter than me. Let me tell you my reasons then:

• I believe in telling each other honestly and openly what we have done for each other, instead of doing things in secret for each other and then getting upset in the end because the other person doesn't know your real concern for them or in a worse scenario, getting misunderstood by people whom you care for. (those of you who are in relationships could probably understand me very well on this aspect!)

Since this is the most heart-breaking- I don't want it to happen to myself.

• So if truly I have sacrificed my time, money and energy, why should I keep it to myself? And now that I have told you, at least you will find out and realize there is someone who thinks you are important! If you don't think I am important to you, it is okay, because I won't stop caring for you just because of your actions.
  

• In my life, with my own friends and parents, I practice sharing my honest opinions and feelings about them. For instance, with my very close friends, we will openly tell each other what is not good about each other, what we need to change, the things we have done for each other or the things we cannot do or accept about each other etc.

• I want you to recognize that you can be secure in my inner circle and therefore be secure in the knowledge that I want the best for you, out of the best and the most I can give to you. I want you to do well, VERY well in fact, in your life, that's why I am putting in my best for you! My 200%!

• There will be times I will correct you. If you can trust me and be secure in the knowledge that I am not an evil witch who simply wants to make things difficult for you when I correct you, you will not respond to me in irresponsible, rude or childish manners when I correct you.

• If you can trust me and be secure in the knowledge that I just want the best for you at all circumstances, when I correct you, you will receive the correction willingly and joyfully, because you trust me, knowing that following what I say will bring you only good and no harm, although you might not be able to see or understand or agree with me YET why is my way of doing things GOOD.

• But doesn't this define trust? If you truly truly say you trust a person, it means that despite the questions marks ringing in your head, you will still believe what the person says. THIS is REAL TRUST!

Now that I have practiced honesty and speaking the truth sincerely, it means that I am in an even more vulnerable position than before.

This is probably the reason why most people find it hard to pour their hearts out and lay every thought and feeling nakedly and openly. Most people like to hide things from each other and have difficulties in being honest with each other because they are scared of being hurt and because they cannot bring themselves to trust anyone else.

I have taken a huge risk today, asking for just 1 thing:

Believe that the thought that is always in my heart is to want the best things to happen to you at all circumstances-and for that I have returned to give you my 200% in 2009.