On the first day of my service learning onsite service at the student care centre, my partner Guo Ling and I organised activities for the children there. We were in charge of English, and so our activities were related to the subject English. I was very nervous, as I was not sure what the children would think of me, that the activities would bore the children out, that they would not listen to me, that they would be very mischievous and would play tricks on me and so on. But it was my first experience contributing to the society in some way, and also interacting with so many children, so I was excited too.
I was afraid to face the children alone, and preferred doing the activities with Guo Ling. Fortunately there were not too many children there, only about 39 children in all, ranging from primary 1 to primary 6. Most of them were lower primary children, and there were fewer upper primary children, so we could put them all into one classroom, or into the office to watch a movie. There is a VCD player there, but no DVD player.
There is a nap time for all the children from around 1.30pm to 3pm, during which we are also invited to sleep with them. Thus, we actually do not have to have any activities during this time. Mr Hans suggested that we can actually have our activities afterwards, like from 3pm to 5pm. He also told us that we could stay until anytime we want. But that day Mr Hans sent only the p1s up to sleep, and those who wanted to sleep also went to sleep. Then the rest can do the activities. Although Mr Hans says that the children can skip their nap, the activities are going to be on a daily basis for the whole of June holidays, so he wants the children to have their nap everyday if possible. Thus, we can cut down on our boring activities, and we can prepare treasure hunts during their naptime and then have it organised after their nap.
When we asked Mrs Hans whether we can bring them to the void deck, she said no, that we would disturb the neighbours and the children would make a lot of noise. But we can use the amphitheatre and basketball courts. However, she thinks that any outdoor activities would best be done in the morning before the children’s baths. She says it could be organised from 9 – 10am, and the children get sweaty and dirty then they could take their bath. Then eat their lunch afterwards. But the problem is that is too early for our onsite service. So we probably will not do that, and try to do everything within the centre.
For example the treasure hunts, we can do it all around the centre, such as in the classrooms and also the dance studio which is quite big, around 1 and a half the size of a classroom, and it is also the place where the children take their nap. But Mr Hans does not want any activities that involve running inside the classrooms, as there are many tables and chairs and the children will knock into them and hurt themselves. We can also move the tables to the sides so that the middle is empty, and then organize our activities. We had our icebreakers like that in a circle in the middle of the classroom, and we played Wacko. The children enjoyed themselves very much, and they love playing games a lot.
We can play games with them the whole day and they don’t mind. We played Wacko for more than an hour, and although we planned to play concentration and taboo, we ended up not playing them at all. We learnt through the hard way that we should not give the children boring activities. They are easily bored and they talk all the time. Unless it is something interesting and the activity involves them, or captures their attention, e.g. Wacko. Otherwise, they would keep on talking and playing among themselves. The good thing is, Mrs Hans is there and she keeps them quiet for us. Guo Ling and I are not very outspoken, and are not able to keep all the children quiet despite our efforts. So Mrs Hans was a great help as she can control the children well. Since she is around she repeats our questions for us so that they pay attention.
The children were not very interested in quizzes, even though there were prizes. The majority only answered when Mrs Hans asked them, instead of us, because they were talking so loudly they could not hear us, and some were even doing their homework. They are very restless too, and have a short attention span. I was very worried and exasperated that the children are so energetic and keep on chatting among themselves instead of listening to us, and they are reluctant sitting with people other than their closer friends.
The children definitely will be bored to death if we lecture them on this and that, or if they have to write essays. They have their own homework to worry about already, and the naughty ones keep disturbing other the other children, tickling them, poking them, punching them etc. There is a duster in each of the two classrooms, and one marker in one of them
It was really scary at first and they made fun of our names, but since children are like that, I do not take it to heart. When they are having fun, I myself have fun too and I actually enjoyed it as much as they do! Overall I enjoyed the session quite well, as everything went very smoothly. It gives me a great sense of achievement to have finished my session successfully and to see the children’s happy faces especially. In the midst of teaching them, I had fun as well and learnt a lot about teaching children, such as we should not give them assignments to do and bore them out. Instead, we should organised games and activities from which they can learn as well as have fun in the most interesting and creative ways.
I am happy at the end of the session, because I know I have made a difference in the children’s life and they had enjoyed themselves because of me. The activities brought the children closer together, and they learnt many things that they never knew about us, as well as their friends all around them. They also interacted with each other and were able to work together with each other as a team. This made me happy, and I am looking forward to the next session I am having with them.
that's my reflections for the first session of my service learning. at bukit batok cc, the student care centre on monday. u get the idea of how it was. plus some crap at the end as it's a reflections after all. haha. well tmr im going for yet another session, and the last sentece above isn't really true, bcos im not very looking forward to the next session, but oh well. heh
ytd i went to join the track and field camp. i cuoldn't go bcos i haf sl, so yeah. sigh. and i can't go tmr for the leadership camp at my primary school. a lot of my ex-classmates are going, but i can't. again bcos of sl. it's very exhausting u noe, keeping up with ur schedule, keeping up with the sl activities, keeping up with the children esp. i was soooooo tired by the end of monday. and even moreeeeee more more more more tired by the end of ytd.
now im going to talk about ytd. apparently track ppl are not very disciplined. or most that is. i am very disciplined. -beams- they all woke up late. so we were behind schedule. supposed to have briefing for the challenge by 9am, but ended up briefing at 9.30am. and preparation for challenge. we set off at around 9.55am to the first station, which is at bedok jetty.
in our group there's only 5 ppl, which is so not fair, bcos other groups had more, like 7 ppl! anyway, there's jane, kimberly, weiling, me and irmelia. 2 sec 3s, 2 sec 2s, and 1 sec 1. quite an interesting combination. haha well, we don't noe where bedok jetty is, so the wonderful kimberly called up her many friends. it's amazing how big her network of friends is.
she called up so many ppl and we compiled different routes to get there. we were supposed to get the victoria school and take some underpass and then u will get there. diff routes include: u can take mrt to bedok and change bus there. forgot what bus. u can take mrt to dhoby ghaut and change bus to get to some school that her friend is and she will direct us from there. u can take mrt to paya lebar and change bus.
well we met all the other groups on the mrt train, so after exchanging info, we decided on the last route. to paya lebar. and we spent ages waiting for the bus, and even longer than ages on the bus to bedok jetty. or rather, to VS. then finally arriving VS more than an hour later, we walked aimlessly, ok other than the two seniors in front who looked like they knew the way, we walked. and walked.
and walked.walked for around 20 min in the hot sun, and occasionally in the shade in some ulu looking road and then along a road that seems to be a highway. weird walking along highways isn't it. the so-called underpass happened to be 20min walk away from VS. haha how funny. yeah right we could haf juz gotten to VS and juz take the underpass.
how in the world are we supposed to know that the underpass is so far away!!!got to some kind of park finally. thought that bedok jetty is somewhere around. there was a lagoon or something like a big pond there. very murky, dirty, unclear, muddy and greyish looking one. the water is so...not nice. by this time it's about 11.30am. the sun was very very hot. and no wind. walked another...let's say, 5 minutes? thashi and i decided to walk faster so that there would be more wind and yeah we walked faster. trying to catch up with the two seniors in front. very far in front.
walk walk walk.
after another 10 minutes,we caught up with the two seniors. and we saw the sea. finally. so bedok jetty HAS TO BE SOMEWHERE THERE RIGHT? right.
well there was this lagoon ville or something like that. forgot the name. there's some hawker centre there. and a carpark. ok that's good. civilisation.
walk walk walk.
this is juz like those movies or shows where the characters walk aimlessly in the desert, not knowing where to go, where they were going, whether it's correct or not, and the sun was so hot and shining very brightly. it dehydrates us and makes us feel hopeless and u start hallucinating...STOP. we didn't get to that point yet. but yeah i was thinking of that. we were dehydrating and feeling hopeless though. my limited water supply was running out.
walk walk walk.
another 5 minutes later, we see a bike/roller blade rental shop. and sells some drinks and food too. the other side was a kayak rental shop. there's some canal in front with a short bridge across, and railings. and uh it stinks. and there's this bird sanctuary which has a sign that says "Beware of falling coconuts."
There's not even a coconut tree in sight. lots of trees yes, but not coconut trees. and no birds either. weird. i would be more scared of bird's droppings. they should be a sign, "Beware of falling bird's droppings." haha ok there's some police car there too. no policemen in sight though.
oh and by then u can see the jetty! hurray! however, it's very very far away, and u can see it bcos it's one longggg thing sticking out over the water. brown in colour from far. woody looking. looks like about 1 plus km in front? or more. maybe 1.2km.
doesn't matter. it gives me hope anyway. but it also makes me feel hopeless. bcos i can see that the jetty is still a long way away. very very long way. by then my legs were falling off, and my feet hurt. aching. tired.
ok about 10 minutes later, we arrived there, and i plopped onto the ground. so nice to rest my feet. but the sun's shining and there's no shade. very hot. after a while i joined the others to go to the bike shop there to buy drinks. well, that's a big mistake. bcos it's so far away. another 10 minutes walk there and then 10 mins back.
should haf rested there at the jetty, but sigh i needed a drink. a cold drink. so bought h2o and took a straw -to prevent swirling of drink in the mouth- haha and then went back to the jetty. we ate lunch, but i didn't realise it was lunch then. we shared oreo biscuits and potato chips. that's all. i was hungry then. haha well, it wasn't much of a lunch, but it had to do. we should haf eaten an apple or something.
then in our groups, we played against another group to see who would get the clue first. we had to try to take the bottle and run back without being tagged. then u get one point for ur group. oh and our station master [abigail] labelled us 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. then she called whatever number then that number run out. since either we kept being tagged or we kept standing there glaring at each other waiting for them to pick up the bottle so we can tag them, she kept changing the labelling. haha
she called us by our events, like sprints, jumps, long-d. she labelled us using a, b, c, d, e. she labelled us using f, g, h, i, j. yeah it took ages. then finally the other team won, 3-2. sigh. they got the clue first, and they set off. abi told us that they were setting off in the wrong direction by accident, so haha! we knew the direction to go! yeah!
well we were to be given our clue 5 minutes later. so we sang songs entertaining her. so she will up our marks. and yeah. the clue to the second station was "located at a big obstructive object nearby".
so we walked. and we walked. we considered trees, the bike rental, the kayak rental, and then eventually we reached the hawker centre. and we decided it should be there. since the hawker centre to biggg. and there was a group there alrd. so we hurried there and yup it's a station!
we were supposed to finish 3 bottles of 1.5 litre mineral water. in the least possible time. they will time us. good way to prevent us from dehydrating. we split it by pouring into our own water bottles [of course they were empty lahh] and then we drank and drank and drank.
so bloated we were! [yoda way of speaking hee] and wei ling drank so much lor! like almost 2 litres or something. she drank so muchh! and so fasttt! and i drank more than 1 litre too. was half-dead by then. it was total torture! u noe the japanese water torture? yeah they made them drink lots of water. then stepped on their stomachs, forcing them to throw up the water.
we had half the torture!!!! oh well. it wasn't over though. we were supposed to buy a plate of food. but muz be carbohydrates. that is, rice, noodles and such. eeks. they were going to make us eat the food in the fastest possible time. another way to make sure we have lunch.
well we wanted to buy roti prata, but there wasn't any stall selling that. decided on fried rice, and asked the auntie to cook lesser food. hehe. but it turned out to be quite a lot though.
we were supposed to feed each other. eeks. and the food was sooooooooooo hot! and wasn't very full after the water drinking episode. [the understatement of the year] but the fried rice was nice though. i wanted fish cake, but irmelia juz didn't take any to feed me. ended up me putting fish cake into her spoon so that i get to eat fish cake. haha!
and kim wanted sotong so we gave her sotong. heehee and after that, kim went to buy hokkien prawn noodles. she said she would be hungry later on, bcos water won't make us full for long. quite true, but not in the mood to eat. and guess what the clue is?
exactly the same as the one b4. the "lovated at a big obstructive object nearby"
the station master said that we were at the wrong station. =.=" but then again it's correct what. unless we passed the station 2 along the way there. but apparently not. so that means abi gave us the wrong clue! humph very funny.
well, anyway we guessed it was the lagoon, and apparently it was correct, so we went to the lagoon. with kim lagging behind very slowly, eating her hokkien prawn noodles. haha. well got to the station 3.
we were supposed to put our faces into the flour, and using our mouths, dig up polo sweets inside. find the 15 polo sweets in the shortest possible time. and we saw the other groups looking very funny! haha their faces was covered in white flour. and their nose and mouths and teeth and all. eeks imagine eating flour! and walking around like that. >.<
well we had to do it, and we tried to blow. and blow. and blow. but it was not very useful. u can't use hands. so we blew like mad, but all the flour came up into our faces. and got my shirt and culottes all dirtied!
all white! and my hair too! sigh. well we wasted too much time blowing, so our timing was very slow. sigh apparently we won't win this time. last year my group won! first! and the games weren't this bad. second there were maps around sentosa last year, and also it was not this big. and we knew where to go and the direction, and if we asked ppl they knew the places!
unlike here. we don't know where to go! in addition to that we don't haf directions, only signboards which are useless. they say that the big splash was there. but the problem is [later we found out] it was about 2km away? i think they think we are cyclists. riding bicycles. but we are not allowed to take taxi, not allowed to rent bicycles and roller blades. [not that i know how to cycle or roller blade. but i can learn right?]
and anyway, the clue was something like this:
-e--o- -ow-r: think rapunzel
yeah and we couldn't figure anything out. thought maybe it's let your hair down or something. then we were thinking rapunzel lived in a enclosed room. so we thought maybe it's some enclosed space or room. then kim was like THAT'S IT! IT'S TOWER!
so the last word was tower. it fits too. then how about the first word? we walked on, and asked some cyclist whether there was some tower around. any tower. he didn't know anything. we thought it may be a lighthouse or something. and what's wrong with them? they don't know anythingg. see how big this place is???
then we walked back dunno why, then we met another group. they asked us whether we knew where the yellow tower is, =.=" and that's telling us the answer. it's the yellow tower! i mean they are so weird. they tell us the answer, and we end up going off together. candice told them it's all the way to the end, and it's very far, so good luck.
then we walked back to the 3rd station and met with another group. the three groups went along.
sigh as if our feet were not tired enough. and she was cycling. so it's fine for her. >.< yeah so we walked. and we walked. and walked. [again yes i know we walked alot]
the sun was very hot. again. but it's very sunny indeed. we need a yellow tower! appear appear pleaseee.
well for some reason kim decided it muz be mcdonald's. bcos it's yellow, and maybe it's shaped like a tower. she knew there's a mac's up ahead very far ahead, so it's possible that it's that.
so we walked. for about 35 minutes. and we reached mac's. and we went in. it wasn't a station. so we went to toilet, and i wanted to refill my water, but decided that it's too embarrassing. so i didn't. haha. well one of the groups left first.
my group left, then the second group, but eventually we waited for the second group. i don't understand why. if we are ahead of them, that means we will be able to do the station first! haha i know im evil. but it's a competition after all.
well we walked on. kim was moaning and groaning that she doesn't want to walk anymore. irmelia too. and weiling was putting on her serious face. frowning all the time again. and i was thinking cyndi's honey. haha and walked according to the rhythm. and was singing some songs i could rmb. lalala.
well after almost one hour since leaving the 3rd station, we reached the 4th one. and kim and i were in front, so that's good. our group reached first. haha. we saw a yellow tower, and there's a long stretch of the beach there. and some seniors were there.
we were supposed to take off our shoes and socks, and go into the water to make a group formation. choreograph something based on some theme. yeah and i changed into my shorts, so that later on i can change into my dry culottes. haha. and i borrowed a shirt from chew min earlier at school. in case mine gets wet or dirtied. -i can predict that we will get wet or dirtied. and i was correct for both. first the flour, then the sea.-
then we did based on kung fu. haha yeah. and we were all wet. and there was a dead jellyfish. washed onshore. -poor thing- it's transparent and buried in the sand. so poor thing non? hahahaha. ok nvm. i dun like the sea! i always get wet in the sea with my normal clothes on! i mean never ever ever had i had a swimsuit on in the sea! humph.
then we were supposed to finish a scavenger hunt, and bring 7 of the items to the 5th station. bonus items gave u more points. they are:
a school shirt [other than raffles ones]
5 male chest hairs [photographic evidence required]
a 15-20 year old male TDH
haha right. male chest hairs. >.< and TDH means tall dark and handsome. =P very funny.
other items include:
lipstick stain--[get a lady to kiss your cheek or ur shirt; photographic evidence needed]
a big black ant -alive-
animal remains
a coconut [unopened]
an energizer battery [empty]
a sprite or coke can with the ring on [used]
a seashell [complete]
a pong pong fruit
white sand
ask for a pad or tampon from a lady >.<
something like that. the animal remains! remember the jellyfish? yeah ester and other ppl let it out back into the sea. of course they didn't know of the scavenger hunt yet. but, it's animal remains!!! sigh
well our group got the ant, there was a coconut, but they said it's open, but there's only one leetle crack! we also got a seashell, and white sand [so easy], pongpong fruit, animal remains ie. a dead ant, squished by the brave jane. we asked them whether a handsome guy who looked tall sitting on the beach is eligible.
they said not dark enough. we argued that it can't be helped he's not tanned enough. "can't u see he is trying veryyyy hard to be dark by sitting down there tanning himself???!" a quote from weiling. haha.
we decided on a malay guy, who obviously is dark enough. not very handsome though. not sure if he's tall, but we asked him anyway. and yeah he's eligible. haha that's good. earlier on at station 4, we saw 3 idiots [well they look like idiots to us, so we gave them that nickname] and we wanted to ask them! but we weren't sure whether we want that item yet, so we didn't ask them in the end.
forgot what else we took. oh and irmelia said she has a pad, so she can juz say that we asked someone for it. haha. well not sure if we did use that idea. and we asked a lady whether she can kiss our shirt [which is wet and dirty and why in the world would anyone want to kiss our shirt!?] and unfortunately [fortunately for her] she says she has no lipstick.
in fact, why should anyone wear lipstick at the beach?
we should look for civilisation, like mac's where there's ppl who would wear lipstick. so we juz made our way on. oh and there's this disgusting couple who were kissing and kissing for a longg longggg time since we arrived at station 4. so disgusting. i mean they are like...oh nvm. >.<
well at station 5, the last station [yay!] it's the worst worst worst station ever! we chose a card, which says that we are to fill one and a half boxes of sand. since we only had 5 ppl, they let us fill one and one-third is enough.
we thought that's easy. but. we were supposed to go into the sea and wet ourselves, then roll on the sand to collect it, then scrape the sand on us into the boxes. first, i dun like the sea. second, the rolling on the sand thing is worse!!!
eeks! eeks! sand all over u! and u are wet too! and ur clothes are like sticking to u. it's so eeeeeeew.
well after a long time [or so it seems] we managed to fill one and one-third boxes with sand. we were really dead exhausted and dirty. and i couldn't stand myself. how to go home like that? on the mrt? juz sitting down anywhere? yeah but we played in the sea for a while. waiting for other groups to come. and we were cheering them on. haha. and i had a taste of the sea.
the sea is VERY SALTY. the saltiest water i haf ever tasted! i was going to choke to death on it. and it went up my nose too. and oh yes the water kept getting into my eyes! and my eyes would sting and hurt [bcos of the salt] and i can't see, and i used my hands, it becomes worse bcos my hands are wet with seawater too! and it's so hopeless, except to wait for my eyes to tear and then it will be fine.
and it keeps repeating itself, until i got fed up and got out of the sea. we dragged our seniors into the water and dumped them in! haha. retribution.
i shall not like the sea. ever.
that's about it. not sure who won the challenge. but i think our group was second. not bad. ^^ we ended the challenge around 5pm. or later? well i ate some icecream minies. forgot the brand. but it was nice. and i showered at a toilet. without shampoo and soap, but i had get rid of the salt crystals on my skin and hair! and sand not to forget. disgustingeth.
i muz haf walked at least, AT LEAST 10 km. but the good thing is, i have burnt more calories than i ever had in my life! yay! haha and i hardly ate lunch. but i made up for all those lost calories by eating 5 ice cream minis, and 2 pizzas, and 2 potato wedges. was super full by then. dunno why.
but i had to go home and eat dinner. so i ate dinner at home, rice, veggies and all. was very very full. i didn't eat a lot of the food though. but that's so much of calories back into my body. >.< and today i ate some mangosteens bcos my mum bought it, and some corn [yumyum] boiled to perfection, and half a bowl of herbal jelly which for some reason has too much honey. so sweet. look at how much i ate! and then i ate a slice of papaya after dinner. [muz eat fruits whatt. my mum always cut fruits one.] plus some sort of soup. for dinner. hmm. ok nvm. but so much calories!
and now im totally sunburnt. im darker than b4! as though im not dark enough. and not juz that, my face is no longer fair! it looks horrible. and my nose is red. [think rudolph the red nosed reindeer] haha
very itchy. im sunburnt! ahh...and something dropped from my spectacles, so i am using my blue spectacles. last year when i made my specs, my mum made me a spare one too. so yeah. the blue one. looks weird. i look weird!
Your Deadly Sins
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Pride: 40%
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Sloth: 40%
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Gluttony: 20%
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Lust: 20%
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Wrath: 20%
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Envy: 0%
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Greed: 0%
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Chance You'll Go to Hell: 20%
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You will die of malnutrition, after the Olson twins make dying of malnutrition trendy. |
