It has been a long day today. Work review - lesson observation - level meeting - CCA visit to a home for the elderly. The assault of activities was so draining that, by evening, my mind was like a fat cat that refused to roll over.
At the home, cadets enjoyed themselves while interacting with the elderly. They conversed, played games and sang songs. After these activities, we bid farewell.
The moment we reached school, I went oh-oh-oh. Where was my backpack?
Answer: It was in a corner of the hall in the elderlies' home at a different part of Singapore. What should I do? Okay, there are some valuables within (but nothing as valuable as my lovely students). Maybe one hundred dollars worth of cash? What a wretched thing to happen, just when I was ready to head back to school, tidy up the various administrative loose ends before collapsing in a heap at home.
Had a student left his belongings behind, I would have been visibly and thoroughly crossed. Writing this now, I can imagine how I would chastise him - perhaps a lecture on the importance of taking care of one's belonging and how no one could be responsible for us but ourselves.
"Excuse me, I am a teacher of the school who just visited. A student left his bag behind. A blue bag with a green water bottle. Is it possible to see if it is still in the hall?" I was too embarrassed to admit that I was the one who forgot his belonging.
"Sorry, what's your name?"
"Mr Tan."
"Your handphone number?"
"9*******."
"Okay, we will call you back if there's anything."
A few minutes later, my phone rang.
"Is it your bag?"
From the identification card in my wallet, they realised that it was not a student who forgot his bag, It was the teacher who forgot.
It was mortifying, how easily my face-saving gesture was exposed.
At the home, cadets enjoyed themselves while interacting with the elderly. They conversed, played games and sang songs. After these activities, we bid farewell.
The moment we reached school, I went oh-oh-oh. Where was my backpack?
Answer: It was in a corner of the hall in the elderlies' home at a different part of Singapore. What should I do? Okay, there are some valuables within (but nothing as valuable as my lovely students). Maybe one hundred dollars worth of cash? What a wretched thing to happen, just when I was ready to head back to school, tidy up the various administrative loose ends before collapsing in a heap at home.
Had a student left his belongings behind, I would have been visibly and thoroughly crossed. Writing this now, I can imagine how I would chastise him - perhaps a lecture on the importance of taking care of one's belonging and how no one could be responsible for us but ourselves.
"Excuse me, I am a teacher of the school who just visited. A student left his bag behind. A blue bag with a green water bottle. Is it possible to see if it is still in the hall?" I was too embarrassed to admit that I was the one who forgot his belonging.
"Sorry, what's your name?"
"Mr Tan."
"Your handphone number?"
"9*******."
"Okay, we will call you back if there's anything."
A few minutes later, my phone rang.
"Is it your bag?"
From the identification card in my wallet, they realised that it was not a student who forgot his bag, It was the teacher who forgot.
It was mortifying, how easily my face-saving gesture was exposed.
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