Slow to judge, quick to forgive

"My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this:Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to becomeangry" - James 1:19

and tonight I'm reminded again of the importance of beingslow to judge and quick to forgive.

So many things I can link that to..firstly, the note I sawon FB about being Christian and gay..at first it seemed like it's a really huge issue because it generatedmany comments from all kinds of people..but only one thing struck me..thecomment which stated that "The problem here is sin..And all of these sinsequally grieve and hurt God. As humans, we will never be perfect and we willfall into sin." I think he really brought up the crux of thematter..that's the only thing that we should be focusing on..not on whether itis a "right" or "wrong" thing to do..because..simply put, who doesn't sin? Who never struggled with sin? Who is perfect except for God Himself? As said in Romans 3:23, all have fallen short of God's standards. Who are we to judge? Who are we to condemn? And honestly, I admit I was a little judgmental when I first saw the title of the note but part of me was actually more curious to see what the content of the note was..and I don't regret reading it (and the comments) because it made me relearn a very important lesson. Be slow to judge and quick to forgive. It's always better to love than to condemn and I'm happy to see that there are many Christians out there who read the note and responded in love, saying that they'd be praying for the author of the note. That's what God calls us to do and it is the best way to show that we are indeed His children :)

For "no one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us." (1 John 4:12) I think that's what this verse is trying to say..I see God's love perfected in those brothers and sisters in Christ! =D

Also, I thought about the way I handled my class..honestly there is an inner struggle within me whenever I get really angry at them because I know I should not have..I really wanna live out James 1:19 in my classroom and protect all my students' right to learn in a safe and conducive environment!! And I think about how they were really obedient and good on the occasions when I enforced the consequences..and then I feel bad..because I know SCM is right..the problem is not with my students..the problem is with me..and the most troubling thing for me is that I find it difficult to enforce the consequences ALL the time!! Because sometimes students break rules and it doesnt really affect the rest of the class! But I HAVE to do what i said I would do if not I will lose the respect and trust of my students! And things would just get worse..

BUT the thing is..there was once I tried being consistent with my classroom management plan and there were 4 students in time out at the same time!! How can that be?? And there is this student that really does not follow the rules even when I send him to time-out! I have never enforced the 3rd consequence..because I need to get my "sample letter" approved before I can start sending them out..but I thought of an alternative..which is that I'll just call/message the parent but it seems more informal..so I'm not sure how to go about doing it! I guess I can ask Mrs K about the bulletin she gives to her class!

And there are other things on my mind recently: really need to teach them to WALK IN LINE and HAND IN THEIR HOMEWORK ON TIME! I've been receiving late work ever since I started giving homework and that's really not what I want..so yup gotta work on these two areas! And I thank God that it's coming to the end of the week! =D

End of Week 3 and yes I'm still loving my class and I know I'm gonna love it even more when I finally get my classroom management plan up and running seamlessly!! Today's disappointments do not determine tomorrow's story! =D

Yes yes yes Phil 4:13! God is gonna help me to reach that stage! Everything will be good! =D okay God bless, take care & byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!! =D have a good week!! =D

I AM A FORM TEACHER!!

WOOHOO!! =D

YES I HAVE A CLASS OF MY OWN NOW!! =D THANK GOD!!!!! =D

AND YES I PLAN ALL THEIR ENGLISH, MATH, PE, SS AND HE LESSONS!! HAHAHA =D

Okay so this is the end of Week 1!! (Last week was admin week so it was considered "Week 0") Started teaching them the curriculum on Monday! =D Whew! Ups and downs but I'd like to think there are more ups than downs!! =D

Soooooo at the end of Week 1..here are some of my thoughts! =D

• I actually really love my class! My 20 kids!! =D Even though I get angry at them when they misbehave and tell them off, I really really think they are a sweet, cute, genuine and smart bunch of kids!! =D
• They do not complain about the consequences I've put in place and neither do they have any when I change their seats all of a sudden! Thank God! =D
• I think I've been trying to incorporate fun into my lessons so that the children will be more engaged in the lesson and thus, be able to absorb the lesson better! =D
• For example, on Monday I let them join 10 cubes to form 1 ten each and we repeated the process until we got a structure of 1000 cubes! =D and on tuesday, I used the flat base ten sets to show them how to represent 3-digit numbers in HTO! Taught them 2 ways then  I got volunteers to come up to write their answers! =D on Wednesday, I used the manipulatives Mdm R lent to me..finally got the right ones!! Grouped the kids into pairs and made them show me concrete representations of the 3-digit numbers that I called out! =D then on Thursday, I let them play the PVC game found in the math TB! =D the highest score on that day was 34 points! Impressive!! At first I let them practise then for the 5 math minutes I told them that each correct answer will be awarded 1 point! =D
• As for English, I did 4 of the SBA activities before letting them do their learning sheets! But I think I could have improved the planning and timing of my lessons! Learnt that I have to make sure that there is enough time to complete the section of the WS AFTER the activities. If I make them do the WS the next day, they would have forgotten about what was taught the previous day! And I made them do comprehension by asking them to act out the roles in the wuestions/ passage! Helps that there are pictures in the book! =D and I realized its good to get those who did not bring their books to sit in front so that they will not get distracted on their seats and will be able to follow the lesson as well! =D and I used charades to teach them spelling! Pray that all of them would remember the meanings and spellings of the words! =D
• I now have a better idea of what routines I want to teach to my class and how I want to teach them when I get another one in the future!
• Really thank God for bringing me through last week and this week! Because this is my first time taking a class all by myself from the start of the year, I was really unsure about many things and I think I was a bit too anxious! Haha but thank God things worked out well in the end! =D Lesson learnt: do not collect school diaries on my own..someone will collect them and put them in the hall during assembly on the first day! =D

Anyway I think it's crazy!! On Friday night I started planning for what I would do with my class on Monday and I kept adding stuff to my plan for the day until 4.34AM in the morning and couldn't sleep until 5plus!! And then I woke up at 2plus in the afternoon and went to Tampines to meet darling for dinner! Saw some nice tops at the interchange but they were selling at $20 each! A little too pricey for my liking! Anyway, we ate at BBQ Chicken for the first time and in my opinion the food wasn't really nice and it was quite expensive! Had the half chicken with mashed potato and fries! Think Hot Tomato's quality is better! And the portion is bigger! =D and the best part is..the meal is under $10!! LOVEEE hahaha =D

Okay gonna talk about how my week went..!

• Really hectic on Monday and Tuesday! Plus I didn't get a good sleep on Monday cause I couldn't sleep at night and got a call early in the morning so it affected my performance for the rest of the day! But thank God I managed to carry out what I planned to do! =D
• Was told that I would be observed for my Math lesson and had to get all the manipulatives and everything! My goodness guess this is the stressful part for me! Firstly, the manipulatives were not packed properly for the classes yet and all of them are in the Math room. Secondly, in my original lesson plan, I wasn't intending to use any of the manipulatives cause I didn't know what was available!! But on that day I had to rush to the math room to get ready and tweak my lesson plan so that I could use the manipulatives! But anyway thank God the lesson went okay without any hiccups!
• Went home exhausted on Monday but I met up with darling for dinner cause he said he'd be doing duty on Tuesday! Bought a pair of shorts! Finally! =D
• Went to HZ's birthday celebration after school on Wednesday! Thank God I didn't feel very tired cause I had 3 free periods at the end of the day THANK GODDDD! =D The food was really yummy and I got to catch up with my JC friends whom I haven't seen in a really long time! =D
• Got to buy new flats cause mine gave way as I was walking to school today! But other than that, really enjoyed today!! =D thank God for Fridays!! =D
• And last but not least, thank God I have siblings who are still schooling now so they can be my "guinea pigs" for my lesson plans! =D and they can even provide me with suggestions on how to improve my lesson! Thank God for them!! =D

Okay that's all for now! Do pray for me if you read this that I'll impact my students positively during my time here! And that they will be well-behaved and be able to understand whatever I teach them! Thank you! =D God bless, take care & byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!! =D