It was a typical meet-parents session on a Saturday morning. When I saw Agnes Ong coming into my classroom, I thought she merely wanted to submit her English file as she was holding it. I asked her to put the file in my locker and to my pleasant surprise, she gave me a big cookie and told me that it was meant for Teacher Appreciation Day (this ‘festival’ suddenly sprang up in my school on the last day of term 2); however, she was not present in school on that day as she was helping out at the National Achiever’s Congress (NAC) at Expo. I accepted her cookie, with much contentment, as I thought to myself, “At last, I get something from my darling 3N pupils.”
In the evening, I spent some time browsing through some of my pupils’ blogs. The more I read, the more fascinated I become! I find those personal entries rather captivating, especially when they talk or complain about incidents happening to them in school. They are really vivid personal recounts, rich with emotions, except that these entries are not in standard English. Ya, I realized my new nickname and the words pupils used to scold me and other teachers behind our backs. It is indeed a great discovery! Don't worry, my dear pupils, I won't breathe a word to anyone in school.
Then, I came across Agnes Ong’s blog and I realized that she purposely went to the food fair at Expo to get Mr Lee and me something special that is not found in Pasir Ris. Wow, I was so touched! Thank you very much, Agnes Ong! Despite the cracked cookie, it really warms my heart to know that you took great effort to show your gratitude towards us, teachers. Once again, thank you very much and the cookie was crispy and delicious!
ship! Thanks be to God!
