Why Is The Swim So Long?

Crunch Time

It's been a long, eventful week.

Spoke at MGS this week. I think the girls enjoyed my talk, although I didn't connect with them as well as I did with the boys at ACS(J). That's to be expected- I'm not an alumnus. I'm not even a girl. Still, I think they enjoyed it. Hopefully they took away a few lessons too.

Administered final examinations for my own history students this week too. They did well, and I was greatly encouraged by their performance. It's interesting, but the correlation between grades and talent was not as strong as the correlation between grades and enthusiasm. My most enthusiastic students did best. My most talent student actually didn't do as well as I expected, but then again her enthusiasm level has been on the wane for a while. My most enthusiastic students, on the other hand, all passed, even though some of them have little aptitude for history. Not to say that there weren't enthusiastic students who did badly, or talented students who did well, but I think it just goes to show how hard work and passion can take you further than talent.

Underwent lots of painful physiotherapy for my back injury too. I was in perpetual pain this week, not so much from the injury (that's pretty much gone), but from my skeleton being manipulated back into alignment and my muscles readjusting back to correct posturing. Interestingly, I noticed that proper posture is very much a part of the great statues that the Greeks left behind. Their study of the human body was groundbreaking, and they established so many of the basic principles that we use today. There is so much I've learnt from teaching Ancient Greek history this term. It's been an education for me as well.

An old flame told me over the phone that she's getting married. I am very happy for her (although a little surprised, since it is pretty sudden). Golly, everyone is getting married or attached, while I'm still acting like a big kid and running off seeking new adventures, fancy free and free for anything fancy!

Next week will be my final week at ACS (International) and my final week here in Singapore before I head off to Dover to train. While I'm excited to be going into the next training phase, where I ramp up the volume and am able to devote 100% of my time to my preperation, I will miss Singapore and my students. It's been a terrific half a year with them and I hope I have made some positive impact on their lives.

Posted by pj at May 22, 2005 07:08 PM