Once Upon A TYPE…

Archive for March, 2010

My Indulgence

for the love of sweets!

60 Earth Hour – Turn out your light, show your support

To know more about this great event, click the link.

Saturday Blast

Andrea and Aaron were invited to join InterContinental Phnom Penh’s Earth Hour activity for kids which composed of lantern making contest for 15-year olds and art coloring contest for 5-10 year olds. T’was a fun event though there’s only a handful of participants which were generally sons and daughters of ICH-PP’s staffs.

My dear friend Melissa organized every single detail and I am happy that it turned out very well. During the contest, my stage-mom persona has come out and I couldn’t help myself in cheering my kids. I was more nervous than them, to be honest. For me, this is not only “for fun” but the kids should take the contest seriously if they want the prize to be them, eh! At first, we got a little intimidated with an older kid at the back who colored her work fast and beautifully, while Andrea and Aaron were taking their time on their little piece of art. After 30 mins, the staffs collected the paper for the judge to look.

The kids went on a heavy snack prepared by the hotel. There are varieties of cakes, fruits, spring rolls, chickens, and breads on the table. Too much food to fill little tummies of children. Nevertheless, everybody was full and happy upon eating while waiting for the results of the contest.

Stefan Voogel, the General Manager of ICH-PP has the last words to say and then the moment of truth is on…the winners of the art coloring were announced first and there were three winners for each category which is based on the ages of the participants. We got a little hopeless when a Khmer kid won first and tadaaahhhh…Andrea was called on next as the best for her age group!!! I am so proud of my daughter, and I am even prouder with her little achievements. Aaron went sad when his name wasn’t called but he made fun out it after taking all the excess goodies from her Tita Mel

Here’s Andrea and her chocolate bunny trophy made by Chef Shadek

Later in the evening, it was the adults time to unwind. Off we went to Darling Darling Club at Naga World, where Nestle’s company has an event. Mel and I came a bit early for the night but we didn’t mind as we have a lot of catching up to make – you know

I met Nestle’s colleague and craziest companion in the office – Sylvian.

On our way home, I realized how good life is and how wonderful my friends are. Though my Saturday didn’t have a good start, I had a wonderful ending which is the most important!

25 cent is going to Cornell! Yipppeeee

It’s been 3 years now that I have left Vietnam but I still get a chance to talk to my previous students especially the ones for ISHCMC. And just now, I received a message from one of my 10P students, and guess what, he got accepted at Cornell University in New York! What a great surprise! And who knows he might be my first student to be a member of Ivy League – a prestigious organization in the school.

Here’s his acceptance letter:

And look at him now, all grown up like a real man

To my dear 25 cent…ooops I mean Minh!

I can still remember how noisy you are in my Chemistry class  and how playful you are whenever we do experiments in the laboratory. But hey, look at you now, successful in your chosen path and still thriving to be one of the best students in your class. I am no way prouder to be a part of your school life and share this moment of happiness with you. Keep up the good work man and stay humble like what you are now! I hope to see you soon

Love,

Teacher Joycey

Battle of Manny Pacquiao vs Joshua Clottey

It’s gonna be a tough event between Pacquiao and Clottey at Dallas, Texas today! Just looking at Clottey, I already knew that it’s one hell of good fight between the two famous boxers. And of course, I am putting all my cards to the big man Manny! Bring home the bacon Pacman!

A Teacher’s Agony

When can a teacher say that he/she is doing well in their career? When can a teacher say that they’ve failed? When can a teacher say that he/she has given more than enough and when could it be less? Some questions I am finding answers.

It was yesterday morning when I was called to the office to explain something. Something that shocked me. Something that I never expected to happen. I have a student whom I will call Student A, who will be the prime character of my story. Here it goes.

Student A is known in the campus for being lazy and troublesome. He’s the kind that comes to school with incomplete uniform and no homework. When you ask him why he’s like that, he’ll give you reasons of a kindergarten kid. Yes he maybe sweet some times, but the world is not flat and no matter how sweet he is, he’ll always go back to what he is used to be – troublesome student. One day came and he went to another teacher’s classroom. There he played with the teacher’s aquarium and all its fish. The next day, one of the most expensive gold fish died, the oxygen tank was broken as well, and the teacher who owns the aquarium complained. As the student’s adviser, I was outraged with what he did. I am always reminding my students to be mindful of others and respect their properties, but boom! He’s the one who never listens! As a punishment, I told him to replace the fish and the oxygen tank that he broke, if he’ll not be able to replace it, I will not give him a seat to take the exams. Days passed and no fish arrived. I reminded him many times and the only answer I get is “Yes teacher, I will bring it tomorrow“, but tomorrow never ends!

Quarter exams came and I stayed firm with my decision not to give him the test. I want him to realize that what he did is wrong and he needs to learn the lesson, this time – the hard way! Before we proceeded with the tests I initiated a call to Student A’s parents to inform them of the situation and both parties got surprised with the exchange of information. Apparently, Student A already asked his parents for money to replace the fish and oxygen tank, but he never bought them instead he replaced his old pair of shoes. Brilliant! Now the parents claim that Student A already paid his teacher when there’s no business like this happened. Wow, this student is a certified liar! To clear the situation, I explained to them that he has never paid anyone and no one has received money from him. So still no test without the fish and they agreed. A couple of hours later Student A’s sister came and handed him the fish, soon the teacher who owns the aquarium was happy to receive them and I immediately gave him his exams as part of our deal. Before we part ways that day, I gave him advices and I hoped that this will never happen again. Case closed.

As a teacher, I treat my students as my little brothers and sisters. I am their partner in everything as long as it is right. I impart my knowledge and shares them my happiness. But then, some of them will not be grateful of your deeds. Some of them will get angry with you when you discipline them, and one of them is Student A. After the incident, his parents decided to transfer him to another school. In just 2 days they have taken all his records and puff! He’s gone!

The school’s board of directors got this information and now they are issuing me a letter of warning for my actions. For what action? For disciplining my student?!? F*ck! My hands didn’t lay on his skin, I didn’t hurt him when he has done bad things, all I did is just discipline him and we made a very good deal. Then why am I being caught in the middle. For the school, they have business to keep and if I don’t get to keep the students, I am fired!!! Damn! This whole thing ruined my day and it gave me butterflies in my tummy! A letter of warning will not suit my beautiful record, I don’t want it and I will never like it!

The whole day, I thought of things while I am on my chair. To discipline or not to discipline? I don’t know. My mind’s messed but I will never give up. I am sure that I am doing a great job and I don’t want anybody to piss with me. Before I close this, I want to let other parents like me who have kids attending school to know this – teachers are our helpers in grooming our children, they should never take the whole responsibilities that you should be doing. Working together things will be a lot easier.

“A good teacher is like a candle – it consumes itself first to light the way for others.“

We Are The Champions!

Come 1st of March, Cambodia International Academy held its annual academic competition from pre-school to grade 9 students. There are different categories per level; story telling, reading, and numbers for kindergartens, maths, spelling, and essay writing for the higher grades, and speech choir which is combination of different students from grades 2-5.

It’s more than 2 months preparation for my students. Knowing the capabilities of our opponent section – Grade 6B, I gave them a head start in everything they will need to win. 70% of my students have poor English and this makes it hard for my remaining 30%,  they’re the ones who are very fast in learning. You can imagine clearly what I need to go through just to pull their senses out of them.

Whenever we do the practice or our lessons, I always remind my students to never give up in things that they want to achieve. Never surrender even though you know things are gonna be complicated. I always teach them that there’s a room for us to win something in the contest despite the fact that the other class has more students than us. I once told them “Quality is better than QUANTITY” so never be afraid.

So the contest came and it’s a knock out style, one question per student and if you don’t get to answer right – you’re OUT! One by one I saw my students eliminated…I never looked down instead I cheered more for the remaining students in the line…it’s okay if you don’t win, for me you’re all my winners!

Then in the end the winners were announced…

Spelling Contest:

1st – Lor Ty (G6A)

2nd – Davinn Tay So (G6B)

3rd – Money Udom (G6B)

Mathematics Bee:

1st – Soth Pich Sorphea (G6A)

2nd – Chenda Arika (G6B)

3rd – Voeurn Sophanith (G6A)

Essay Writing:

1st – Soth Pich Sorphea (G6A)

2nd – Bo Yi Houy (G6A)

3rd – Ly Van (G6B)

What else can a simple teacher like me ask for more than having champions in my class. Grand slam in all categories we have! It’s a blessing from above that we win and I feel great that we’ve harvested the fruits we sowed a couple of months ago successfully. Grade 6A – you are superb!

As a treat, I made chicken macaroni salad for all of them and they liked it

Sang Him ate too much and now he’s sooooo full!

Yellow Four

Meet my newest baby and addition to my gadget family – yellow four.

This DELL Inspiron mini 910 is a true gem and because of that pink five won’t be lonely anymore

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