The One About the Freaking Incident in School

A creepy incident took place in school today. School ends at 5.30 pm nowadays and onwards because of exams. And I didn’t have to supervise the second session of exams so as usual, by 5.20 pm, I’d be packing my bags already, preparing to escape a.s.a.p.

As I was packing up all the exam papers (all of which I am done marking), I heard a student come into the staffroom to talk to the discipline teacher. That’s not unusual either. But the thing is, after that, I turned around to the windows behind me, and I saw a few boys running after one boy in front. That wasn’t unusual either since fights are not unseen.

Let me draw a simple diagram to illustrate it. The below is the rough sketch of the buildings’ locations, all of which is connected by roofed pathways.

Okay.. I was in the staffroom and behind my seat is the windows facing Block A & B. So all I had to do was turn and look.

The boy was in his classroom in the first floor of Block B.

So about 5 teachers ran out after that and I didn’t know what happened yet. But I thought they’re probably gonna stop a fight or something. I didn’t budge cos I needed to pee and wasn’t going to run after the unknown. 

The red line represents the boy and other boys running after him.

The blue line represents the teachers who split up to find the boy.

The smiley face is me in the comfort of the teachers’ room.

Not long after, the teachers came back. The afternoon supervisor and a couple of the other teachers just now brought a boy back to her office which is at the end of the staffroom block.

One of the teachers who went for the chase told us that the boy was hysterical and ran straight out from his classroom with his friends in tow, who were trying to catch him.

Their classroom is the nearest to the stairs and the boy half ran and half jumped down the stairs as witnesses by another teacher in the class a floor below. He was seen to be agile like a monkey the way he jumped down the stairs. Mind you, it was raining heavily and the stairs are usually dark because there’s no light there.

Then he ran from block B to block A to the students’ toilet. I managed to see the group of them running from block B to A.

All the while that he was running, he was murmuring to himself. This is where it got creepy. He said to himself that something’s after him and he must get away. *goosebumps*

The teachers caught him at the toilet and somehow calmed him down and as I said brought him back to the afternoon supervisor’s office. They then brought him to the toilet to wash his face to wake him up further more I guess.

They called his parents to bring him home and I didn’t see him after that. The teachers were worried sick. And I believed the teacher in the class at that time (they were just doing revision on their own since they’re not having exams at that time) must have been scared even more. I had goosebumps all the time until I reached home.

One of the teachers saw him and another friend playing with coins (you know how you hold the two coins lightly on two fingers and you crash them gingerly to produce the high pitch chink sound?) and chanting all that time as though to summon a spirit not unlike the Ouija board.

I’m not saying that it’s connected but it’s a bit too much of a coincidence. And we’re often heard of people going hysterical especially after meddling with things we deemed supernatural like the Ouija board.

What’s my take on supernatural occurrences?

I’ll just say that I won’t disbelieve it and that I will keep an open mind on that. Well, what we call supernatural is what we don’t know. And what we don’t know, we tend to be scared of.

Back in the days when people thought the earth has edges, everyone is scared to reach the edge to fall off the face of the earth. And then someone comes up with the theory that the earth is a sphere and the idea was ridiculed.

Same thing here. Just because we do not know about the existence of supernatural/paranormal powers yet, we are scared. And we’d rather not think or face it in anyway. But one century ahead, who knows what might happen?

Someone might discover something new that will show reasoning for all these. Same goes for UFO. I shall keep an open mind.

But the incident is freaky nevertheless. I have often heard of stories of hysteria but have never seen it. Whether or not the incident has any paranormal connections, we shall leave it at that.

As I get older, I get more timid and lose more of my courage for acceptance of such things. I do not watch horror movies at all unlike my younger self who loved horror stories. Anyway, we shall let that be and hopefully I can still enjoy my weekends

The One About Becoming Unemployed

I am confused and lost now, more so than usual.

All these while, while working as a temporary teacher, I may not have loved teaching but it was a shelter for the time being. I guessed I always took it for granted that I will do this as long as the school wants me and that I can escape reality for the time being and get good money while doing it.

Of course, the money part is the only thing preventing me from quitting in the first place. Having money means I do not have to be dependent on my parents and I can have money to spend on myself and my family/friends.

However, all is about to change. 2 new permanent teachers are coming tomorrow to take over our places, although we will continue teaching until the end of the semester and till the end of our contract which is until early December.

That means that, I will be officially unemployed starting early December and this brings us back to my opening sentence.

What do I do next?

*jumbled mind*

Sigh… any suggestions, people?

The One About the Reptile Smuggler

Omg… read the complete piece of news here…

OSLO (Reuters) – A man was caught by Norwegian customs carrying a tarantula in his bag, and a further 14 royal pythons and 10 albino leopard geckos taped to his body, media reported Monday.

For a reptile hater (due to phobia, particularly lizards or anything in that category), I find it immensely disturbing. Pythons and geckos taped to his body? *faints*

Even though the reptiles are placed in stockings and tins, it’s still gross to imagine movement and constant motion on all parts of his torso.

Ugh…

The One About An Eventful Day In School

Today was an eventful day (relatively) in school. I said I checked the exams papers till late last night right?

Anyways, while checking, I discovered some suspicious papers. In the sense that, a lot of the answers are similar/same. I am in awe for my observant self also (strangely observant). And ta-da!

There were too many similarities to be a coincidence so I brought this matter to the other teacher in school. After questioning the 4 students (cheated in pairs), they admitted it =.=”

Anyway, for one of the pair, the one who got 6 marks said she wanted to help her friend, who ironically got 8 marks. Out of 60 marks total. I was like, okayyy… both are 半斤八两 (I can’t recall the english version). I mean if you wanted to cheat, find someone better to cheat on lar!

And besides, it’s so dumb to cheat in paper 2s. So noticeable and easily caught.

At least this was the Science paper. Another 2 boys (the previous 4 were girls), from the same class, cheated in ENGLISH PAPER 2! yes… english essay. The storyline were exactly the same and there were similar sentences and they made the same mistakes. They claimed that they did it in tuition already. So, if you did it in tuition, you still make mistake in your exam? and exactly the same ones as your friend?

Ah well, I always thought that it’s really stupid to cheat in exams. If you don’t know how to do, try your best. If you fail, try again.

That aside, while I was supervising a paper today, a boy got up from his seat and asked for permission to go to the loo. I just wrote him his pass and I heard a weird noise from him. He rushed out of the class and everyone heard him vomited on the stairs. I was grossed out and so were his classmates.

He disappeared for more than 15 minutes and I was getting worried when another teacher came to take his belongings (he’s going home) and another led several transition students to clean up his vomit. You can hear the groans and sounds of disgust from the students.

Anyway, that was gross. Hopefully no one gets sick tomorrow.

The One About Marking Exam Papers

In the midst of examinations now. Not me. My students. I’m just supervising but as I said, it’s darn boring. Not anymore! Now I have eons of exam papers to mark. Let me list it out…

Science Form 1

Paper 1 – 3 sets

Paper 2 – 3 sets

Math Form 2

Paper 1 – 1 set

Paper 2 – 1 set

So… the students sat for their science paper 2 yesterday and I brought 3 fat stacks of papers home. Only done with one after hours and hours of marking.

Math exam today, both papers. And Science paper 1 tomorrow.

Basically, I have 8 sets of papers to mark and I am only done with one… arghhh…

*hungry* time for lunch!

Oh, speaking of which, I chose my best class to mark first and they pretty much screwed up. Only a handful did well and the rest flunked. Sigh… I’m not much of a teacher I guess. Dare not look at the other 2 classes.

Hopefully the math class will turn out better *fingers crossed*

The One About First Day of Invigilating Exams

1.12 pm	It’s been 17 minutes since the exams started and already I am bored and sleepy. However, I have long forgotten how quiet and serene it can be in a classroom (with students in it).
1.13 pm	Listening to the chirping of different birds and the sound of distant traffic, it is almost enough for some good shuteye. I’d better walk around to keep awake.
1.16 pm	Too lazy to walk around. Will wait till 1.30. The main difference of a so-called good class and a bad class is how much they care about their studies/grades. The two classes can be equally noisy but the extend of their care for grades makes all the difference. You can threaten a good class with the grades but the bad class won’t care less (what grades they say).
1.38 pm	Finished my rounds. Now back to sitting down. Oh did I mention that I am invigilating a BM paper 2 exam? It makes it even more boring since I can’t attempt to answer it. Essays? nah..
1.40 pm	One more thing, I must remember to bring chalk tomoro!
1.50 pm	5 more minutes to go! Till half time! Ugh… how can time pass so slowly?
1.55 pm	Another student wanted to go to toilet. How can I tell them no when they said it’s an emergency? And 2 teachers came to find me. It’s a little hard maneuvering around the class with the scattered tables and all.
2.12 pm	Am running out of space on my A4 paper. 43 minutes left. Now you know why I can’t sit that long in the exam hall? *impatient* There are probably less than 5 times that I stayed in the exam hall the whole time in my three years in university. The skies (or sky) looks dark though. I predict rain in 1 or 2 hours.
2.15 pm	Maybe not. Wind speed is increasing. Students’ papers are flying. I am sleepy.
2.25 pm	Huh… raining already! Half an hour to go!
2.32 pm	Rain brought one big problem! Students’ bags are outside class. I had to move them where rain can’t wet them.
2.44 pm	With that, there’s only 10 minutes left on the clock. Students are getting fidgety and I don’t blame them. Some are sleeping while others are still writing furiously.
2.45 pm	Rain is visibly lessening now. I probably couldn’t hear myself shout during the heavy rain just now. *counts* only 20 minutes of rain???
2.50 pm	5 minutes left. Crap! I have to repeat this another 8 times???
2.55 pm	Exams end. *relieved*

The One About Antivirus Softwares

This blog post is delayed as I had to go home to post it up (the wireless internet in school is horrible).

So the thing is, I overheard the teachers talking about antivirus softwares. The 2 younger teachers just bought the Kaspersky Antivirus 2010 for 3 users and are looking for people to share. They are asking around to see if anyone wants to share. The older teachers are unaware of the importance of antivirus softwares.

1. They do not know the function of the antivirus softwares.

2. They do not know the difference of the free and non-free softwares (why pay when you can get it for free?)

One teacher put it this way. Imagine hiring 2 security guards. One which you pay and the other’s working for free. Which do you think will be better? The one who’s paid will obviously work harder and be more alert at work while the free one will slack (why waste energy when you’re not getting paid?)

I think it’s quite aptly put. For Kaspersky, it comes in 2 versions; Antivirus and Internet Security. The price for Internet Security is slightly higher so I usually buy the 3 computer licenses version. I’m not sure about the prices now but I think the teachers thought they were buying it at a cheaper price. The retail price should be RM89 for 3 users Antivirus and RM109 for 3 users Internet Security. During promos, the Internet Security should be about RM99.

One of the misconceptions is that if one user registered first, the date will start from then so the other 2 users will be at a disadvantage if they don’t register at the same time. I don’t think that’s the way it works (otherwise I would have wasted on license still unused at home).

Another thing, if you’re looking to save money, you can buy the current version (the 2009 version in this case) and download the 2010 version online and register using the license you bought. It works that way also (like I did).

Why am I even talking about this? Obviously bored. Waiting to go back and it’s 5.51 pm now. About 20 minutes to go…

The One About Anger Management

I felt like bashing up my printer when it failed to print repeatedly just now! The paper kept getting jammed because the paper is going in crookedly! The right side gets in faster than the left and therefore jams! Gahh!!!

So, I unplugged it and fiddled with the paper rollers and thank goodness it worked. I might have thrown the entire thing to the wall otherwise.

It’s a new printer. Maybe only a few months old. No idea why paper jam kept happening.

And yes, my temper has gotten worse since I started to teach. Voice got louder also obviously, no thanks to the annoying students.

On Friday, a boy in class kept talking and changing seats and making annoying noises and I told him to shut up and go back to his seat and yt he’s still talking as though I am talking to the air. So, I commanded asked him to stand up in front and he said c****. I was so enraged that I marched him to the penyelia petang’s room.

As a result, he received a scolding and 10 dimerit points plus a counseling session next week. I felt bad about that. A little. But what’s done is done.

He apologized (because he had to) and I accepted but I guess he’s probably hating me very much now (not that I care). But seriously, you can’t teach without having students dislike you. In the way that, if they are not disciplined, they aren’t gonna listen and will waste my time.

The boy simplified the story and told it to the penyelia petang. He said he wasn’t talking, etc etc. But she said, I (as in me) hardly ever gets angry (ever so patient) and if I do get angry (like in this case) he must have been really naughty. That got me thinking. Well, I guess I’d usually rather not scold or shout at them but sometimes they leave me no choice. Ah well… I’m so glad exams start on Thursday. You’d only hear that when I am a teacher, never as a student.

And yes, I’d probably need a good long break or some anger management classes. But maybe it’s good since all these while the anger remains internalized unlike now, where all hell breaks loose.

The One About Irresponsible Parents

Can you think of what I am trying to say from these photos?

Photo quality isn’t that good since I only had time to whip out my phone and start snapping but pretend like I was just reading a text message and all the while I was at the traffic light which just turned green!

I think there were 3 kids at the back of the vehicle with no adult supervision. I guess I need not say more about the safety issue, bla bla bla…

Oh and that is my solar powered flower sitting on my dashboard. I think it’s cute until recently, I saw that every tom, dick and harry has one. Time to get something new ya think?

The One About Baby Evan’s 1-month-old Bash!

Okay this is WAYYYYYY overdue!

Photos were taken on 27th September 2009, which was like *counts* almost 2 weeks ago.

This was when baby Evan was exactly a month old! He had his month-old birthday party with family and friends with absolutely no comprehension of it!

Aww… there he is! Peering around at the noisy people around him (especially me waiting for him to wake up with the camera in hand).

YAWNNNN!

One thing is for sure. He LOVES to sleep. He’s either eating or sleeping (like all other babies) so it’s hard to capture a moment of him being awake.

SEE? He’s back asleep immediately! Phew… Thank goodness I was fast to get those moments! So basically, he should be turning 6 weeks old in 2 days. Haven’t seen him this week. And yes, he is the younger brother of the now very naughty Ryan, who can be seen decorating my previous posts for almost 2 years.