The Verdict

Thanks be to God, “The Interview” turned out to be a success! Yes, I’ve been given the appointment of a Senior Teacher (for those who don’t already know what “The Interview” was about).
For the school I guess since I’m the first to take on this appointment, there will be quite a bit of expectations, at the same time, still feeling its way around as to what exactly needs to be fulfilled for someone in my role. The good thing I forsee is that in the words of my VP, “the egg is broken”. It’s probably less daunting for other teachers in future who aspire to take on this appointment. In fact I would think more teachers would be willing and ready for it since the path has been trodden.
As for me, I still do wonder if I’m really ready and suited for the role. When my P was having a dialogue with me before he broke the good news, it didn’t sound too positive about it. It wasn’t a unanimous decision from the panel to award me the appointment. Some felt I wasn’t sure or knew what I was in for. They are right. Still right. I wouldn’t dare say I’m 100% sure of what I’m in for since there isn’t any predecessor who has done the job before. I would need to feel my way around and pray I will get it right. Some things just cannot be left to chance. Your career is one of those things.
Somehow I can’t help but feel the the panel finally decided to give it to me because they too wanted to help my school “break the egg”. I figured out that this would be one of the points of discussion after I left the interview room. Certainly if I’m one of those in the panel, that would be a major considering factor – to let one through so that more, and probably better ones can come. Well, looking at it positively, I guess I had this situation to my advantage
So what are my plans for at least till the end of the year… Firstly to continue work in staff development and honouring teachers for their efforts. Teachers Day has come and gone. I hope to make the Thursday Honouring Day an avenue for teachers to be recognised not just for their efforts with the pupils (be it CCA, competitions, etc.) but even in their individual pursuits for self-improvement and learning. These are all done in the name of education.
Second, the staff will be having a year-end Staff Retreat-cum-Teachers Day dinner. I thought it would be a good time to round up the year by having a “thanksgiving” session. You know how at Thanksgiving family members give thanks at the dinner table for all that has taken place for the year. It’s a time for staff to show appreciation to each other for the little and big things they have done to make school a better place to work in for 2009. Just another idea… not sure if it’s a good one, an awareness session for teachers to assess their personal well-being as a worker. But I would have to do much research on it as I still have a rather sketchy idea on that.
Cheesy it sounds, time flies. 2009 is coming to an end. Today is tomorrow’s yesterday. We need to make every effort count in whatever we do. At the end of the day, what counts are just these few things in life. For me, it’s God and my family. Where then does my work come in? Well, it’s a blessing from God to be where I am and what I have so that I can be a blessing unto my family.

The Interview

Gosh! It had really been quite a while since I last made an entry. Had to navigate wordpress a while before getting to this page, and it didn’t help that I had to bash through my sis’s perpetually messy table to find the plug to this laptop and of course her mouse.
Interview – Gosh! It had really been quite a while since I last went for an interview. Haha! Probably the last one I did ended me up in my present job and I’ve been here since. 7 years! Wooohoo! Yea cheesy it goes, time flies, it’s been, well, erm.. 7 years. I’m glad these 7 years culminated to this interview I went for today. Not sure if I even want to mention what interview this is in case I didn’t make it through. Let’s just call it “The Interview”.
I think I did fairly well for the interview. It started on an easy note as I was asked to briefly describe the main contributions I had made in my last 7 years in the school. That was rather easy as I had to think that through while I was doing up my portfolio for “The Interview”. It eased me into talking and thinking about my contributions in terms of music for the school. Then came the next few questions which I was still able to answer rather confidently off-hand. Let me recall them….

1) What was your biggest challenge when setting up the Music Centre at my school? How did I overcome that?
2) In your fraternity, what is the biggest challenge you face?
(Ans: Parents!! It had to be them! Damn! And I’m one of them)
3) So how do you deal with them or advice others to do so?
4) In light of the subject and the number of pupils you have in your class, how credible do you think, as a Music teacher, are you able to advice other teachers about managing a class properly?
5) How do you help a new teacher bridge the gap between the theories taught at NIE and the reality of the classroom?
6) What 2 main factors allowed you to make the several contributions to the school?

This is as much as my pea-size memory space up there has allowed me to retain.

Then… THE final question that came along that I had to throw a smoke bomb before making a quick escape. To elaborate, it was a lousy, pathetic smoke bomb that didn’t help to cover my tracks as I left the room, not sure where to hide my face. I could see “that look” from the one who posed the question that says “GOTCHA there! Muahahaha!” Well, the question had to be about the well, infamous AFL which is a fad in my school now. It goes.. “How are you going to convince your colleagues into using AFL to teach Music?” or something like that. I knew very well what AFL was, and how it’s used to teach Music to the masses. My answer was lousily smokey that I couldn’t remember what I said, needless to even want to recall and put it down here. It would be detrimental to my reputation. Haha
But what I really wanted to say was this. AFL is about bridging the gap between what’s taught by the teacher and what’s received on the learner’s part. Now, it is often easy for the learner to know where he/she stands since the ear knows what music sounds like and when it sounds wrong. In that light, the student would be able to quickly make an assessment for himself/herself as to how much he/she has achieved and how much more to go. The teacher’s role would therefore be to help the student bridge that gap by providing the student with the necessary drill to master the skill of playing the missing part right.
Sure enough, this was one of those moments where the words just don’t sync with yout thoughts and you make a booboo of yourself. The first and last moments always make the most lasting impression. I had to make that last impression as such. Sigh…
All that said, the months of preparation for “The Interview” certainly did make me think through my set of values that undergirde my practices and decisions in my years as a teacher.
1) Always to try new and better ways of doing things
2) Enjoy the process
3) Provide oppurtunities
I think over the years, what had kept me going was the fact that these personal values were in line with those of the fraternity I am in. Just last week at the Mass Lecture, the vision for teaching was “Lead, Care, Inspire”. Thank God it wasn’t some bombastic sentence that no one could remember. It was 3 simple, yet powerful words that should echo the intentions of a teacher. In ensuring that students enjoy what they do in class, I’m expressing care for their learning. By trying new and better ways of doing things, I inspire and lead others into experimenting with their ideas too. Finally, caring that students’ needs are met, oppurtunities are provided to them whenever possible.
I am deeply encouraged by the Sec 2 Guitar programme that is now cruising along. The instructors are doing a brilliant job in getting the students to learn the skills. The students are kepy motivated to keep trying because the results is plain for the ear to hear. It’s easy for individual student to know where they stand and how far they have to go. Well for those who are still far from the standard, they have been taking initiatives to improve. Every Fri, they make a beeline outside the music room to borrow guitars for the weekend. It started with just a few students. As the weeks go by and it becomes more obvious where they stand in the class, more and more students are coming forward to borrow the instrument for themselves, even one whose hand is still in a cast. He has been playing the guitar like he would a cello. Amazing!
I sit here, awaiting the results from my P. If I make it through, then good for me. If I don’t, I doubt I will be upset for long. Yes I would naturally feel disappointed but the past months of preparing for “The Interview” has certainly got me to think about the reason for my being in the teaching fraternity.
Finally, a tribute to the taxi driver who drove me to the venue for my interview. He taught me to remain calm in the midst of adversities and confusion by looking up “Yishun Ring” road on a map just before the interview.