Archive for the ‘Gary’ Category
For all the blessed mummys and daddys who are anxious about their child being in the first day of school…
Mummy Moments with Gary
Posted on the February 24th, 2010 under Educating,Gary,Runderstandings by avnjl
Was reading my colleague’s (who is on maternity) status update on facebook when she shared a Mummy’s Moment about her girl’s startout in childcare.
___ Tan ‘s lil gal let her tears flowed when she saw her..”Mummy, I want to go home…” she said in full sentence…:(
Didnt know that mine would come so soon…
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Today I had a Mummy’s Moment with Gary
Was getting ready to end lesson when there was a struggle between him and another child(Johnny). He wants to see Johnny’s pencil case but Johnny refused.
So knowing his violent tendency, I quickly went over and took hold of the situation.
Assigned work to class, took him out of the classroom and ask him abt how it would be if he is in Johnny’s shoe…
My Gary was in P1 too. Special child, undiagnosed condition, coping.
In ways that we didnt know, loving or hating it, everyone has a role to play…
Thanks for coming by
Be Bless
Love,
Amanda
2010 was a year of… interesting encounters in teaching 
Other than my 1st year with 4 Love, guess 2010 was the most impactful
But of course, I still love all my other 2 Faith, 3 Grace, 5 Joy, 6 Love and 6 Care.
Gary.. My life-changing experience.
He was in my Pri 1 class. Guess its because of his need and how I had always to take care of him, my pupils understood that Gary was someone that need extra attention and concern.
I called the pupils in my class Angels.
Literally 
And they are only Primary 1.
A few of them would take up the responsibility to guide him, show him the way, take extra care, especially tolerant to him when he mis-behaved.
Kinda understand how it feels when my Gary said “I gave up”. The feeling of not knowing what to do with what oneself is manifesting.
and it really wasn’t his fault. The meta-cognition was alright, he was able to process n think through his acts after me speaking to him.
whats bugging is the inability to control his acts, his manifestation bcos he was a special child.
A teacher never give up on a child. A teacher corrects the child n pray n awaits the next day to start afresh.
Next moment, Next day..
The rest, is up to the child.
In Gary’s case, he needs greater Tenacity than other child..
I love you Gary. Thank you for teaching me that.
Amanda
Passed by Gary when I was going to another place just now, it wasn’t my lesson with him at that point of time.
Stopped by the steps when I notice two of my angels coming out of the classroom trying to get him to go back into the classroom.
He was holding on to two sheets of paper.
The adult that was in-charge of that period came out to get my two angels in and attempted to guide him by the hands into the class.
I thought it was oki since the adult was around.
I wanted to move on when I notice Gary refused to move.
So I walked back towards Gary.
Then the adult turned to me and said, “he was just squatting here looking like he was looking for something” and then walked away leaving me to attend to him.
So I asked, “What happen? What are you doing?” “Are you trying to give Ms Ng the worksheets?”
Then he replied, “no, I’m looking for my bluetack” “Just now I was standing here, it dropped and now I’m trying to find it.”
Its that simple.
No need to pull him, no need to argue with him to get him into the class.
Just search together with him.
Listen.
Source: http://2.bp.blogspot.com
Listen to what he want.
So I kicked around alittle, told him I couldnt find it, but we can go into the classroom and I can get new ones for him.
Then he skipped into classroom happily.
Listen.
Thats all.
Be Bless
Love,
Amanda
Had a lesson observation the other day,
a lesson observation is when teachers/officers of higher ranking sit in to observe the lesson conducted by a lower ranking teacher.
The feedback was good.
Everyone’s real excited about the use of the Interactive White Board in the class, illustration of the yellow car caught their attention and Gary even sang for the class.
and mind you, the Vice Principal was present.
anyway,
was just reflecting upon Gary’s behavior.
Realized we’ve really come a long way.
Gary doesnt recognize words, he cant read print in another words. To him they are just pictures. He’s just following lines when he has to copy alphabets, which meant that there is a need for intrinsic motivation everyday day. *Salutes the parents!
The Primary school education system is moving on to the Stellar Program where we dont use textbooks anymore for English, its all learning of English Language using Big Book / Big Story Books.
How I would normally engage Gary would be to get him to point at the words using the pointer with me.
It has always been him using the pointer to trace after me. (cos its pretty senseless to him, its the only way he can get close to the book and see the small details of the story)
But this Lesson Observation, I threw the ball into his court and I’m glad he served pretty well.
He actually manage to listen to the sounds we made and move on to the next word as we speak and proceed into the next page without me prompting.
So proud of him!
He has improved in his ability to recognize the (single) word chunks and attempt to match each sound of the spoken word by me and the class with the print thats on the page.
For a child with learning disability, its a tremendous achievement!
I am so proud of you Gary!
Looking back to the beginning, getting him to not run out of the class is an achievement, but now…
Hang on, We will get there.
Its moments like this that kept the teacher in the job.
44 working hours a week doesnt seem to apply to teachers.
Do you love what you do?
—
On the side note, helped out in the Science Practical Assessment,
Pressed the bell like 36 times
Feels like the Idol show.
“TEH!”
Be Bless
Love,
Amanda
Ms Ng Blogs:
Week 1 of Term 2 has come to a close.
Gary’s been with me for about a good 3 months now.
The physical abuse, the mental discipline, the self-awareness. These are lessons I learnt from dealing with him.
And all the other angels in my class too…
Since the beginning of the term, I’ve been screaming at him.
He doesn’t take out his homework diary even after I asked, he doesn’t pack his bag when we are ready to go home.
Back in the beginning, I would take those things out. My angels in the class would pack his bag for him.
“Gary! Ms Ng wants your homework diary NOW!”
“Gary! Pack your back NOW!”
n if my angels pack his bag for him…
“Thank you very much, don’t help him. I want him to pack his own bag.”
*Takes out whatever that was previously there and dump it on the table.
“Gary, you have to pack YOUR OWN bag. If you choose not to pack YOUR bag. You can stay in school while everyone goes home!”
Why?
It’s Term 2 now. It’s about time he gets used to being in school n handling his responsibilties independently.
I love you Gary.
—
Be Bless
Love,
Amanda
Took the pupils out to the zoo recently and happen to meet Tony (the photographer)
Obviously no time to shoot, the most was at the elephant show.
Took me awhile to prepare for my non-routine kids, came up with this!
Real Cute!
My pupils spotted this!
Mad crowded at one of the shows
Red Bottoms!! Find the smallest in the crowd!
WAH! 1st time I see Elephant doing 180degrees turn on a LOG!!! and then can stand on 2 legs somemore!!! O_O
Cheeky elephant hitting the butt of the trainer
and this is how the trainer gets on (gets the trunk btw the legs and lift off!)
Fantastic Coordination!
oki oki, if I show you somemore you dont need go see elephant show le.
Be Bless
Love,
Amanda
Was reading my colleague’s (who is on maternity) status update on facebook when she shared a Mummy’s Moment about her girl’s startout in childcare.
___ Tan ‘s lil gal let her tears flowed when she saw her..”Mummy, I want to go home…” she said in full sentence…:(
Didnt know that mine would come so soon…
-
Today I had a Mummy’s Moment with Gary
Was getting ready to end lesson when there was a struggle between him and another child(Johnny). He wants to see Johnny’s pencil case but Johnny refused.
So knowing his violent tendency, I quickly went over and took hold of the situation.
Assigned work to class, took him out of the classroom and ask him abt how it would be if he is in Johnny’s shoe…
“Do you like your Ben10 watch?”
“Yah”
“Do you like Andy?”
“NO!”
“so how would you feel if Andy wants to see your Ben10 watch?”
“NO! CANNOT!”
“But he really want to see… He like”
“Cannot! I dont want lend him.”
“So, the same goes for Johnny, its good that you ask him for permission, but he has a choice to not let u see his pencil case. Do you understand?”
“Understand, but I really want to see.”
“Well, if Andy really want to see, will you lend it to him?”
“NO!”
“So Johnny can also do that.”
“But I thought must share share…”
*I smiled to myself
“Oki, how about this, we go in and ask Johnny one more time. If he says yes, then you can see. oki?”
“but I want to see.”
” I know, but Johnny can choose not to let you see. Just like how you dont want to lend Andy your BEN10 watch. Come, lets go in, its going to be Mother Tongue lesson soon.”
“HUH? Mother Tongue? I dont want… I want Ms Ng…”
” we know that you will have Mother Tongue lesson everyday right?”
“Yah… but I dont want…”
“oki come, the bell has rung, Ms Ng need to go in to let everyone go for their Mother Tongue lesson”
*stretches out hand for him to hold and follow.
*got into the room… On seeing Mother Tongue teacher, he walked back out and sit on the floor outside the classroom.
*turned and inform Mother Tongue teacher to look out for him, I need to pack.
“Come Gary, you wanna sit, sit on the floor in the classroom.”
“I dont want… I want Ms Ng.”
” I understand you want Ms Ng, but Ms Ng has other class to go to, and you have your Mother Tongue class to attend.
*got him to go back to his seat.
*walked off towards the staffroom for my break.
*then suddenly felt 2 hands grabbing my right hand
*the other teachers give me the wierd look. *classic
“Yes Gary baby? What do you want?”
“I want Ms Ng…”
“Come, follow me.”
*Brings child back to classroom, Mother Tongue teacher aide prepared BEN10 activity sheet for him. He got interested for a while. I walk out.
Was at a distance when I turn and saw Gary again.
“What happen Baby?”
“Ms Ng…”
“oki come, we sit down and talk.”
“What happen?”
“I dont want go Mother Tongue class…”
“Why… What happen?”
“I dont want…”
“:) now, Ms Ng tell you something oki? Everyone has to go for Mother Tongue class. Same goes for Gary right?”
“Yah… But I dont want… I want follow you…”
“I understand, but Ms Ng has to go teach Pri2 now. You cannot follow.”
“Pri 2, teach what”
“Teach them PE, dance, aerobics.”
“I want follow you…”
“:) Baby… Now is Mother Tongue lesson time… I will see you again at 6 o’clock oki?”
“Now is what time?”
“4 o’clock”
“I dont want 6 o’clock, I want 4 o’clock.”
“6 o’clock, I will meet you at the parade square oki? Where we sing Mari kita?”
“Where? Upstairs?” *tts where the hall is for pledge taking.
“Nope, you remember outside there? We always line up here, then we will walk together to the place? *points in the direction.”
“You know where I sit?”
“Of course! You are always in the front with me. “
“6 o’clock?”
“ya, go home time.”
“Come we hook fingers. Promise!”
“oki…” *sticks out pinky
“but we promise le, you must go in and sit down with your Mother Tongue teacher and do the BEN10 activity oki?”
“oki…”
led him back in, closed the backdoor to classroom, proceed to staffroom, nope, he didnt come after me again.
Do you see the long stretch of exchange? or Do you see the anxiety within the child?
At the Parade Square at 6pm, approached him, communicated and high five-d with him. Gary is a emotionally happy boy.
-
Its interesting an encounter, and I guess its these kind of encounter that kept my sanity.
The understanding of your role in a child’s life.
The understanding of how the little love you can give to a child would matter…
I felt different as I walk the same path to the bus-stop. My heart is lighten.
Not sure why…
Is it bcos of the Mummy Moment?
Is it bcos of hearing from him that his mom is sending him to a new school, which meant that he is receiving help, his condition will improve for the better of him, his life in future?
One thing is for sure. My class has learnt one more life-skill compared to other classes that didnt have Gary.
How to cope with non-routine people around them.
Disclaimer: All names have been changed. Even Gary.
—–
Been wanting to blog this (whats below) during the CNY season, but just too busy.
Gary had a blow-up in class, took him out to talk about it.
We were about to enter the classroom when he tripped and landed flat.
He cried so loud that some of my pupils came out to see what had happened.
Attended to him and the wound and got him to settle into class.
My pupils surrounded him with so much love and attention.
Even those that he had exchanges with before.
“Gary are you oki? is it painful?”
“I lend you my BEN10 comic.”
“I lend you my Gundam Seed manual”
I love my pupils.
Its all in a day’s work.
Didnt realize the blood stain on my wrist till I was on my way home.
Be Bless
Love,
Amanda
Last friday, my school had our Chinese New Year and Total Defense Day celebration.
Having come back from the 3 days MC that the doctor ordered, it felt good to see my pupils again.
Totally loved my class. They know me so well!
We had a Lion dance troupe as part of the opening ceremony for the day,
it sure is tons of fun for the pupils that are seeing a Lion dance troupe’s Lion up closed the first time.
We had the principal to read out the Total Defense day message, and then the pupils were sent back to classroom with the teachers to learn more.
The school went e-friendly and had our NE resources online. Check out our resources here!
The pupils had much fun learning about the Total Defense messages, I think all of them were very captured by the Psychological Defense.
The government had poster for these various messages.
We got them to put their hands together and create a drawing for “I Will”
The photos taken during the time I went down to Central Firestation with some other bloggers courtesy of 24seven media comms came in handy!
After the knowledge transfer and hands on activity, we went on to the hall for the CNY concert.
Some of the items:
Performance by the Chinese Orchestra
Its very fusion actually, they have western classical instruments in it as well.
oh, side note: through my experiences in teaching after these years, I learnt that pupils that are aesthetically incline can actually perform better academically. Perhaps its because their brains are stimulated much more than those that are not exposed yet ba…
We had Wushu showcase and they moved so fast…
oki la, partially bcos the lighting aint strong enough tts y my photo came out like that.
and those from the Chinese dance,
Which I have absolutely no idea how is it that they can be so flexible…
and of course their favorite sing-along session.
They were singing this song called “Chun Lian Hong”.
Theres this part that goes “Chun Lian Hong, Chun Lian Hong” between this 2 phrase there is a break, so we got the pupils to sing “hey!” and integrate an action. Its suppose to be like this only:
but of course, they are more than creative…
and then we gave them hongbaos with chocolate and sent them off for the long holiday.
For me, the most memorable part of this whole celebration was when Gary ran up to me.
He is normally fearless, according to the past experience we had, I dont see him as someone who would want to seek shelter or some form of protection from me.
The pupils were all seated on the floor, some how the Lion troupe Lion seems scary to them.
I was just standing there watching their reaction. The Lion was still a distance away when I heard Gary’s voice. “Ms Ng!” and I felt a child grabbing me.
Its the kind of “I’m very interested but I’m very scared” vocal.
Brings me the idea that though we had our struggles, but he knows that I will still protect him.
Heres me and my mom, wishing u a Happy Lunar New Year
Be Bless
Love,
Amanda
Was just telling myself to rise above the situation yesterday, with regards to Gary.
Had a very good start today
Normal days he wont even take out his homework diary,
He took it out, handed it to me, and I even had the chance to award him in his behavior chart.
Had much fun with him doing an English worksheet and a few Math pages.
Glory Trip!
and that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is my first photo into Project 365 app
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Had this other child, who sobs on arrival in the hall, being very afraid.
It's been said that a person without passion is as good as a walking zombie, I strongly believe in that. Passion gives a person life and makes a person unique. I am passionate about communicating with people. I am passionate about making things work. Do you work to live, or live to work? | Email: avnjl(at)yahoo(dot)com(dot)sg | Follow me on Twitter: @avnjl | Chat me up at skype: amandavalng 
