Term 3 Week 10 (Last post for this term)

Monday: We did our full dress rehearsal for our lit play but unfortunately, no one brought their costumes. Mr. Chua was really pissed but continued the rehearsal anyways. My group was the third so we had some time to prepare. What I think was funny was during the kissing scene as I was playing Romeo. What I think we had to improve on was the way we speak and more body gestures. We also need to be more confident and not be nervous. We have to show no signs of nervousness so the play will go smoothly and not cock up. But Mr. Chua wasn’t too pleased with our performance and his expression says it all. We have to work harder in order to achieve better standards in acting and speaking.
I could not find the vdieo so I took last years performane...


Thursday: It was our first period and we went to class to wait for Mr. Chua to come. As he was two classes away from our class, Mr. Chua caught Daryl and Zul wandering out of class. the first thing when he came in was that he addressed the whole class not to wonder out of class when there is no teacher around and that we are to stay sited in our seats at all times. After that Mr. Chua announced that he will be distributing our test papers. Everyone was excited to get their papers back. When I got back my paper, the first thing I noticed is my score. I scored a total of 15/20 points. It wasn’t what I had expected. I thought could do better but unfortunately not. But in the end I convinced myself that it wasn’t bad after all. So anyway, we went through the paper. We had to do it quickly as Mr. Chua wanted to show us the play on Romeo & Juliet and ho we could improve our play. We finish the corrections in like less than 5 minutes. We then proceed on to the play where Mr. Chua showed us the movie and how we could improve on our speaking, props and position on where we stand. We had to take down notes and improve it further. We also had to be confident about everything so our play would be a success. That was what happened for this weeks lesson.

Term 3 Week 9

Monday: today we had a test on the play “Are you lonesome tonight?” Mr. Chua came in with Ms. Chala and I knew that Ms. Chala will be the adjudicator for our class. Once we greeted them both, Mr. Chua explained how seriously we should take this test and went off. Ms. Chale was left in charge. She distributed the papers and we then began. It last till the end of the period and so we didn’t have any lessons today other than the test. After finishing the test, we handed up our papers and greeted Ms. Chala and we were then dismissed. Our class behaviour was perfect today although Ms. Chala reprimanded to keep our noise level at zero as we were having a test. We behaved ourselves and I think we deserve a clap. *Clap* {:
Thursday: For today’s lesson, it was all about Famine. Starvation, hunger, shortage of food and many more… But before the lesson started, Mr. Chua scolded us for being so reckless and ridicules for wondering out of class when there was no teacher around. About 15 minutes of our time was taken away. We greeted him as usual and sat down to being our lesson. We were then given a worksheet on a picture of an African boy lying no the ground and a vulture standing right behind the boy.

This picture says a lot. What I think of this picture is that there is a small little boy crawling to the food shelter and has no energy to walk. He is dying soon and worse, there is a vulture waiting for him to die so it can feed on his dead meat. It’s really sad seeing how people in other countries have no food to eat and then we were here wasting food that we can’t eat by throwing it away. Those people who don’t have food to eat will come rushing to garbage cans looking for let over’s. This picture is also an award winning for the Pulitzer Prize by Kevin Carter. Ti is said that Kevin Carter left the scene after taking this photograph without helping the boy. It is too simplistic to suggest that he committed suicide as a direct result of his experience with this child as implied in the message. It is also unfair to judge his actions without having some understanding of the man's state of mine along with the terrible conditions in Sudan at the time the photograph was taken. This was what he said in his diary
“Dear God, I promise I will never waste my food no matter how bad it can taste and how full I may be. I pray that He will protect this little boy, guide and deliver him away from his misery. I pray that we will be more sensitive towards the world around us and not be blinded by our own selfish nature and interests. I hope this picture will always serve as a reminder to us that how fortunate we are and that we must never ever take things for granted.Please don't break... keep on forwarding to our friends on this good day..Let's make a prayer for the suffering in anywhere any place around the globe and send this friendly reminder to others; think & look at this...when you complain about your food and the food we waste daily.........”

This was what he wrote before he died “depressed . . . without phone . . . money for rent . . . money for child support . . . money for debts . . . money!!! . . . I am haunted by the vivid memories of killings & corpses & anger & pain . . . of starving or wounded children, of trigger-happy madmen, often police, of killer executioners . . . " And then this: "I have gone to join Ken if I am that lucky.”
I feel very sad for him and that he should at least help the boy before walking off. If I were him, that is what I would do. Millions of lives are being loss due to Famine. We should also be grateful for what we have and never take things for granted. To find out more about Kevin Carter http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,981431-1,00.html

Term 3 Week 8

Monday: the sane thing happens every lesson. But for today’s lesson, Mr. Chua came in with Mr. Narz. The first thing that came through was that Mr. Narz was going to teach our class while Mr. Chua evaluates him and see how he teaches. It happens every time when there is a new teacher. And then I noticed something different about Mr. Chua. He wasn’t carrying his bag as usual but instead a stack of worksheets. He then explained to us that he as to rush somewhere important and that he won’t be able to attend our class today and that Mr. Narz is going to replace him for today’s lesson while we complete the worksheet that he’d given us. We only had one period to complete it and that there was to be no discussion. The worksheet was based on the Mighty Mandarin we read through last week. After Mr. Chua left, I thought there would be chattering and people getting into groups discussing about the worksheet but nothing happened. Instead, everyone remained silent and diligently did the worksheet that Mr. Chua had given us. There were a few whispers here and there but Mr. Narz reminded us to keep quiet and finished up the worksheet. When the sounded, everyone put down their pens and handed up their papers. Mr. Narz collected the worksheets and told us that we could go. Anyway it was the last period. But overall, I think our class behaved quite well today despite that we always don’t really and pay attention in class. We can do it if we want to and we have the discipline but we just don’t show it.

Thursday: Todays lesson didn’t turn out quite the way it was supposed to be. Mr. Chua came in with a disapproving look on his face. I was one who knew that something was not right. As soon as we greeted him, Mr. Chua began scolding us. It was due to the fact that someone had copied answers from someone else. He told us to stand up and began reading the names of pupils who handed up their worksheets. Luckily I was one of them. But there was one pupil left standing. She photo copied one of my classmate’s worksheets and handed in just like that. She didn’t even have the decency to own up. She didn’t have the integrity. Mr. Chua was really mad and told her that he wanted to see her after lesson to talk to her about her attitude towards her homework. After that was over, Mr. Chua distributed our previous worksheet on the play “Are you lonesome tonight?” of scene 2. I scored a total of 11 points over 15. We went through the corrections quite fast as there wasn’t much time left. In total, it took us about less than ten minutes to finish the corrections. After that we had to hand up our illustrations for the Mighty Mandarin scene. Overall I think I did quite well.
But what I learnt from this week’s lesson is that everyone must have the integrity and not be afraid to own up. As the lies the escalates within you the more you feel worse that is why it’s always best to tell the truth than to lie behind someone’s back.
A 'No" uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a 'Yes' merly uttered to please, or worse , to avoid trouble.
-Mohandas Gandhi

Term 3 Week 7

There weren’t any lessons on Monday as it was National day. We celebrated our nation’s 45 birthday. And so we move on to Thursday.
On Thursday, we went straight to the CEPP corner to rehearse our lit play. Once we reached there, we sat down listened to the instructions given and soon divided into our groups and started the play. I was playing Romeo and I think I did pretty well. Some said I was dramatic because of my hand gestures. Does he expect me to stand still and do nothing but just saying my lines? What does acting mean then?! Anyway I did my best and I memorise all my lines. Our lesson soon came to an end but I had fun.

Term 3 Week 6

I know it’s quite late since I have last posted, so I am just going to write down what I remember.
Monday: So we were still on the last scene of “Are you lonesome tonight?” and so we were discussing on how drugs affect not only you but the people around you as well. It was sort of a “Say NO to drug” week and it was also relating to Elvis taking drugs so I think Mr. Chua decided to cover on the story of a boy named Jack and how drugs affected his life. Each of us got a copy and read it together. Mr. Chua decided to test our reading skills and how loud can we project our voice since we went for the debate course. Thankfully, I was not called but some of classmates read really soft and most of us could not hear. This shows that they are really shy or they are lazy to read and don’t went to project their voice loud enough for the class to hear. Well the story was about this boy, Jack, who was curious about drug. He thought there was no harm in trying and that he can stop anytime. But guess what, he was soon hooked to drugs and could not stop by then it was too late. The drugs had taken control over him and soon Jack craved for more like he was a young boy craving for candy. And the story goes on to explain the effects and how it affects everyone. The campaign slogan this year is “Life Does Not Rewind” meaning there is no turning back. Once you have started taking drugs you can’t stop and the affects can be deadly. This was what we covered on Monday as lesson time was short.

Thursday: it was quite an interesting lesson this week I had so far. We covered “The Mighty Mandarin” all in one period. We were divided into different groups and we read different characters. Our group got Sung the Mighty Mandarin. What’s funny is that when it got to the three brothers Ching, Chang, and Chung it was like a piano. They sat to stand really quite and sit so the next brother could stand. Anyway, once we finished the play, Mr. Chua gave us two worksheets one is to fill in the blanks and second is a piece of blank paper to draw the set of the Mighty Mandarin. And soon the lessons ended as per normal. We didn’t do much of thinking but we still had o think on how to draw the set.
Well this was this week’s entire lesson, can’t wait for the next.

My drawing of the set.

Term 3 Week 5

Monday: It wasn’t really a pleasant lesson as we were shouted at by Mr. Chua. The problem was that there are classmates of mine who either wants to annoy Mr. Chua or has a short term memory who just can’t submit their assignments on time. And that took up most of our time. With almost half the lesson gone, we then only began our lesson. We were given a pop quiz which happens every lesson. We were told not to look at our text while Mr. Chua asks questions that required us to think on our feet. At that point of time, we are also developing our thinking skills which allow us to think fast within a short period of time. The questions asked was from scene 2 and those who were unable to answer, were either lazy to revise their text or they weren’t thinking at all. The next part of the lesson was going through the theatre production worksheet we did on the first/second week. I scored a total of 10/20 which isn’t as good that I thought it would be. We went through the worksheet quickly as time was running out. After completing the corrections, Mr. Chua handed out another worksheet based on scene 2 of “Are you lonesome tonight?” We are to complete it and hand it in the next week. Overall, I think that today’s lesson was based on thinking and that are we able to think fast and not to mention projecting our voice. My classmates that were called out to answer spoke in a very soft tone but when there is no teacher in class they shout and scream like nobody’s business. And that was all for today’s lesson.



Thursday: It was usual today. We greeted him and sat down, he wasn’t mad at us today though. Anyways, we continued our lesson on the text. After a few questions asked to refresh our memory, we proceeded on to scene three which involves the Older Presley where Elvis is under drugs and Redhead. But we didn’t manage to go through the whole scene. But we also managed to cover up most of it. Elvis was in his room alone but he was talking to someone but whom? That was the first question asked by Mr. Chua after going through the first dialogue. We then knew it was Jesse, Elvis’s twin brother who died when he was born. After reading through the first page of scene 3, Elvis was in pain, but what pain. Another question asked. Some of my classmates thought that it was the withdrawal symptoms for the drugs he took. But I thought otherwise. I knew that the pain was due to his loneliness. Even though he was Redhead, he misses his family. His mum, his wife and his daughter. This is when Redhead tries to comfort Elvis telling him that everything’s going to alright.

But the person he misses the most is his mother. He then remembers her funeral which happened a day ago but it was actually the August 14th 1958. At this point of time, Elvis is having a breakdown. Redhead was alarmed by what Elvis had said and tries to comfort. The reason Elvis did not attend his mums funeral was that he was in the army most probably performing for the US Army, and that was why he missed it.

In my opinion, if I had to choose between my family and my fans if I were a singer, I would most probably pick my family. My family is the most important thing to me. They have watched grown, have helped me through my tuff times and have always been there for me. And I would also think that my fans would understand if they too were stuck in this same situation.

Well that’s all I have for this week’s lit blog.

Term 3 Week 4

Monday: Today's lesson gone by quite fast. We got scolding from Mr. Chua as ususal due to homework assignments. After that, we went through scene 2 and practice more on our thinking skills. We didn't do much as time was running out. We just concentrated on the text that whole period.

Thursday: We didn't have any lessons today cause Mr. Chua was not in school. A did our own stuff while aa relief teacher took over.