Directed writing on compre: HEADACHES

Dear Jenny,

Thank you for your letter! I was so happy to hear from you! Are you feeling better now? I am concerned about the discomfort of pain you are experiencing in your head and I want to provide you with some information regarding headaches.

Firstly, there are nearly 130 different types of headaches, which can range from mild, moderate, extremely severe to unbearable.

A migraine is a moderate to severe headache that can happen on either one or both sides of the head. The pain is usually throbbing and can worsen when you climb the stairs or bend down. You might also become sensitive to light and sound, nauseous or feel like vomiting.

The most common reasons for headaches are lack of sleep and mental stress.

Other causes include consuming drinks and food that contain alcohol, spices, caffeine, aspartame, mono-sodium glutamate, ice-cream and chocolate.

Changes from normal routines or patterns, dehydrations, high blood pressure, certain medication or even poor posture may also be some of the possible reasons for the onset of headache.

If your headache is not serious, over-the-counter painkillers such as aspirins and paracetamol (panadol) should treat it. However, do not consume more than 4 grams of Paracetomol on a day.

Apart from taking medication, resting in a quiet and dark room with an ice pack on your head or massaging your scalp or temples using firm pressure will help to ease the pain.

However, if the above methods do not help, you will need to consult a doctor. This is because it probably means that you have a very serious form of headache that requires immediate professional advice. For instance, if the headache happens suddenly, lasts for more than a week following a head injury or is brought about by exertion or exercise, gets worse with time and is accompanied by fever, stiff neck, sensitivity to light, nausea, vomiting, loss of consciousness or coma.

I hope the information provided is helpful. Please take good care of yourself so that you will have a speedy recovery! I am looking forward to your reply.

Yours sincerely,
Jan

INSPIRING QUOTES (13)

"I have learned this at least by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours."
-Henry David Thoreau

INSPIRING QUOTES (12)

Taking a break from marking and I stumbled upon this quote which I like!
I wonder how many people read these quotes and take them seriously.. hmm...

I remembered I really love quotes when I was young (still love them) because they are always so short(easy to read!) and yet so filled with good meaning and inspiring!

"People are like teabags. You have to put them into hot water before you can know how strong they are"

INSPIRING QUOTES (11)

Let's
REACH UP
AND
LIVE HIGH!!!

INSPIRING QUOTES (10)

Life's honor does not come from not making mistakes

but from the recovery from mistakes

INSPIRING QUOTES (9)

You are the ONLY person on the face of the earth who can use YOUR abilities.

It is an awesome responsibility that becomes the MOST exciting and rewarding thing on earth when you start working on it!

It is UNIQUELY YOUR OWN responsibility.

Inspiring quotes (7)

Studying is training yourself to overcome hardships.

Also, people can't live alone. They learn to live together.

School is a place for you to learn things like that.

E-learning

Dear students,

For e-learning

Login ID = YOUR NRIC

School ID= FMSS

Password= You should know your password

Extended dateline= 24/3/09

* please let me know if you cannot log into your lead account, or if you have forgotten your password. I will help you to reset your password.

Sincerely,
Miss Chang

Model essay

Last Saturday, I went to the Botanic Gardens with my family for a jog. When I entered Botanic Gardens, I saw a group of Japanese with their Japanese guide. The guide was clutching onto a flag and followed behind by a group of his countrymen. They smiled and nodded as we passed by them.

Next, I came to the pond and I saw 2 beautiful swans and some turtles. As I looked around, I was captivated by the lush greenery and serenity of the surroundings. As my family and I continued to jog, we saw some paths, familiar nooks and wooden lanes. We stopped to admire a winsome child, and someone's handsome looking grey hound. As we were about to pat the dog, it immediately gave us an angry look and barked at us. Thus, we carried on jogging.

This time, we came to another pond. We stopped jogging and decided to feed the swans and turtles. After 30 minutes of feeding the animals in the pond, we decided to continue jogging for another half an hour. As we were jogging, all of a sudden, we saw 3 small squirrels running away from the shrill symphony of the cicadas.

At the end of the day, we felt very tired as we have jogged for almost 2 hours in the Botanic Gardens. We decided to go to a nearby hawker centre for dinner.

Done by: Kassandra

Model Essays

Last weekend, I visited Botanic Gardens for a jog with my friends. When we entered the Botanic Garden, people smiled and nodded at us and even said "hello", including the Japanese! We were all taken aback as we have never came across these types of friendly gestures in the Botanic Gardens before. It was at this point that I realized more and more men and women are discarding their inhibitions and their shyness in the Botanic Gardens.

As we were jogging along the way, I stopped to admire the beautiful pond which had 4 swans and some turtles. I went to the nearby store to buy a loaf of bread and began to feed the swans and watch the scurrying turtles scramble for their share. After 15 minutes, I resumed jogging and went past a beautiful flowering bush, squirrels and cicadas.

At the end of the day, I wondered to myself what would we do without this oasis of greenery in the Botanic Gardens. We went back with a smile on our faces after the tranquil and enjoyable time at the Botanic Gardens.

Done by: Joshua

Model essay

Last Saturday, I went to the Botanic Gardens with my friends for a picnic. It was just the right the weather for a fun time out. I have not been to the Botanic Gardens for quite a long time, so we decided to go there.

When I entered the Botanic Gardens, I saw lush greenery. Beautiful smelling flowers everywhere comforted me. My friends and I were trying to find a perfect spot to have our picnic.

As we were walking, a Japanese guide clutching a small flag and trailed by a group of his countrymen, smiled and nodded my way. I failed to returned his friendly gesture and felt guilty. We walked and walked, hoping to find a good spot for picnic. We saw many trees, squirrels, owners walking their dogs and even people smiling at each other.

We finally found a perfect spot by the pond. We settled down and prepared for our picnic. After i ate, I decided to go sit by the pond to breathe in some fresh air. I fed the swans and watched the scurrying turtles scramble for their share.

My friends and I talked and played games. We joked around and chased the birds. I laid my head down and the serenity of the surroundings seen to be panacea for what ails us. We ended the day and went home feeling great that we all spent some time together.

Done by: Isabel

Commonly mis-spelled words (1)

These were the words that were spelled wrongly in the worksheet 'Ways to describe movement' and 'Ways to describe feelings'.

Learn the correct spelling today!

1. soldier
2. minutes
3. confiscate
4. prepare
5. embarrassed/embarrass
6. disgruntled
7. pedestrian
8. committed suicide
9. theatre
10. praised/praise
11. crept/creep
12. general office
13. even though
14. disown
15. stop/stopped
16. ram/rammed
17. stealing
18. despite
19. Philippines
20. mountain
21. partner
22. quarrelled
23. sprained
24. although
25. dropped
26. keep/kept
27. plan/planned
28. mistake me/mistook me
29. haunted
30. field

WAYS TO DESCRIBE FEELINGS

Can you still remember the meanings behind these words?

1. Surprised
2. Disgruntled
3. Contented
4. Perky
5. Pained
6. Puzzled
7. Terrified
8. Sorrowful
9. Embarrassed
10. Irked

WAYS TO DESCRIBE MOVEMENT

Can you still remember the meanings behind these words?

1. Dash/Dashed
2. Stumble/Stumbled
3. Sprint/Sprinted
4. Slide/Slid
5. Creep/crept
6. Hobble/hobbled
7. Leap/leaped
8. Trek/trekked
9. Tiptoe/tiptoed
10. Saunter/sauntered

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED YOURSELF ON SATURDAY! :)

I am not really a photo person as you can tell. So I am sorry if your photos are not here! I am just too lazy to take photos most of the time. But thinking of it now, I really should have taken more photos!

For example the stunts pictures, the roller blading pictures, the falling down pictures, the ones learning how to cycle, those who were very fast ahead, and all the expressions on our faces towards the end of the day when.... ;) you know what happened.

Hope those of you who came had fun and took home some fond memories! :)

i did! :D

YOU ARE INVITED TO...

CYCLING at EAST COAST PARK on 28th Feb 2009!

The plan: Cycle from east coast park to airfields to look at planes
Meeting place: Kallang MRT
Time: 1:15 pm for lunch first
Bring: $10 for the rental of bikes and a bit extra for meals (depending on how high class your meal is).

* If you don't want to eat lunch or can't make it at 1.15pm at Kallang, you can also meet us at east coast park at around 2.15pm.

* Take care of yourself when cycling- don't want you to be injured else your parents don't let you go out with your teacher next time.

Let Rayner or Marcus or Atiqah know, if you're coming. :)

From my heart (1)

Dear 3I,

I really should be sleeping and I really want to sleep now, but I can't sleep if I don't type this. Here goes..

One of the thing we learn as we grow up is the ability to put our emotions into compartments and don't mix them up or take them out unnecessarily or take them out at the wrong time.

An example of mixing up emotions is when you had a bad day because of person A, but when you go out with person B on the same day, you show her an upset face and both of you cannot have a good time together.

An example of taking out emotions unnecessarily is when your parents said something hurtful to you in the morning, and then when you turn up for the first period class, you say something hurtful to person A.

An example of taking emotions out at the wrong time is when person A hurt you 2 weeks ago and then 2 weeks later, out of no where you suddenly tell person A you are not happy with her.

Unfortunately, like you, I am also learning how to put my emotions into compartments and learning how to put my own interests at the very bottom and your interests at the very top in my heart. I think I brought my weariness into the class today. I was tired, then I read the time table wrongly.. I am sorry I should have been stronger and not show my weariness to you at all because this is my own problem and I should not show it at all and I should solve it myself-> putting my emotions into compartments and not bringing them out.

I could have been more patient although most of you were not listening because I can always be more understanding and more patient and having chosen to be a teacher, I should be the queen of patience and queen of understanding.

But on the other hand, I think all of you also need to work on listening when I am going through answers. This is because if you don't listen, you don't learn from your mistakes and that is not good for 2 reasons. Firstly, we as human beings, make a lot of mistakes. Second, every piece of worksheet contains your precious and valuable effort! So do bring something useful back into your brain to keep with u so that you can take it out another time and use it, e.g. exams, conversations with friends/relatives, writing, ordering food at restaurant etc.

I was upset when I walked out. I was thinking how could I have handled it better. Sigh. In fact I am still upset at myself now. I was also wondering.. the closer I get to all of you, the easier and the more I will be hurt by your actions and your words because when a person means a lot to you, what they do and what they say matters so much more and if these things are not nice, they will hurt much more than what a person whom you don't care for at all says and does. This really frightens me a lot whenever I think about it... But it is also true that after one gets hurt, God can heal us easily if we ask Him. Therefore, I choose to try again and not give up or stop...

Okay... so... let us try again... \( - -.)"/

Yours sincerely,
Miss Chang

THINK ABOUT THIS (1)

What is education for
if one does not aspire to go to University?

INSPIRING QUOTES (4)

"It's never too late, or, in any case, too early to be whoever you want to be.
There's no time limit, stop whenever you want.
You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing.
We can make the best or the worst of it.
I hope you make the best of it.

And I hope you see the things that startle you.
I hope you feel things you never felt before.
I hope you meet people with a different point of view.

I hope you live a life you're proud of.
If you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again."- Benjamin Button (from the film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), in a letter to his daughter.

CROSS COUNTRY 2009- SO SO happy that you came!

Dear students! :)

To all who comes to my blog and actually read something out of your own accord (own choice) and not me shamelessly projecting my blog to you over English class and making you read what I have written, THANKS!! :) After I write something, I really badly want someone to read! hehehe. BADLY- because I am the kind of person who doesn't like putting effort into something that is meaningless! :) So when I know there are people reading, I am happy because my time and energy is not wasted!

My cross country was fun today because of all of you! I don't know about other teachers but for me, going to school is fun everyday because I get to see all of you, impart something to you all, and talk to all of you. Basically- YOU are the reason why I am in school. That's why I always ask you all to be present in class or events outside of school because the more of you are present, the better my day will be!

Okay lah, I am not bragging or exaggerating or trying to suck up to you, but if you think about it, do you think the reason why I go to school is that I love to meet the other teachers and collect the money? Can that be the first thing on my mind when I wake up everyday at 6.15am (- -)" -.- and sing the national anthem when no one else in the whole school is singing. come on! I had my turn of singing when I was primary 1 to Junior College 2(12years!!!), now at 26, still must continue to sing marikitayat! How boring and mundane is that, but i still do it!! : | But yeah, back to it, having money is a bonus but if I don't like seeing all of you, I don't think any amount of money will make me happy. So yes, I am so happy I have you 3I! :)

ANYWAY 3I, thanks for being at cross country today! SO MANY OF YOU CAME!!! I was so happy :D I was glad the 30 over pieces of cake I baked yesterday didn't go to waste because a lot of you came and got to taste it! :) *thanks eric for encouraging your friends to be here! :) And thanks to others whom I don't know because you didn't tell me that you were also encouraging your friends to come! :)

The standard of cake today is only average, can be better actually! I was doing work on the computer until I forgot that I was actually baking the cake!! So the standard of cake was not my best ok :) Still hope you all like it, in a way it was A VALENTINE'S DAY PRESENT TO YOU ALL, especially for those singles out there! :)

I was assigned to be one of the finish judges for the cross country. The other teachers who were finish judges were Mr Glen Tan, Mr Joel Li and Mrs Lim Hui Ling. I reached the school at 650am and we were supposed to stand at the finishing point and give out the position tags to the runners. It was not as easy as it seems because there were times when there were a whole lot of people running in from different levels and they were confusing us! However, we were sharp and clear minded and could still see who was the faster runner. It was also tiring because we could only leave when the last runner finishes the race.

All of our class's competitor runners came in like above 45 or 47! That is awesome! Because only marks are awarded to the top 45 positions! Then well done to those who ran mass run and finished it too!! Because I understand how gruelling the race can be but you finished it!! There must have been times when you felt almost like dying, out of breath, that everyday step felt like it would kill you, but still you continued, endured and persevered! I am proud of those who ran :) For those who walked and didn't run, I would say it is also a big step for you too because you too finished walking when usually, you wouldn't even come. Well done everyone!

Actually, reflecting about it, the journey of our life is really like running a cross country. At certain points, it is SUPER hard to carry on and we feel like giving up on everyone and everything!(like stopping and not running) But if you bite your teeth and continue to endure the discomfort by not thinking about it and thinking about other things that make you happy, you will find that it is not that hard to carry on going forward and not just stopping there. Then at the end of the day, when you reach certain points of your life, you will find people cheering for you and waiting for you and you realized that the effort you have put in was not all in vain and it wasn't so difficult afterall to not give up because the taste of achievement at the end was really sweet and enjoyable! :)

To end off, I hope none of you felt like it was a time wasted and you have brought home with you today, some good memories of the cross country!

Yours sincerely,
Miss Chang