It’s the beginning of the holidays, not that it’s much, and students will attest to that with their camps, trainings, and lots and lots of homework.

But I am relieved that I cleared all the marking in time to key in results. You should have seen my worktable then – all piled up with journals, assignments and mark sheets.

And this reminds me: I realize local schools are obsessed with results analysis. Numbers are never my forte, so I am utterly confused at the different figures, percentages, percentiles, and the 101 ways you go about interpreting the data.

Personally, I dislike using marks to gauge a student’s performance. Grades are even given for self-learning, determined by those personality-test-like surveys. I would think that comments (which are not generated by templates) would be more sincere and appreciated than generalized benchmarks.

The last day of school was spent teaching with a sore throat and hence, a hoarse voice. Incidentally, it was the day with the most lessons. So it’s not surprising that when school ended, I am starting to lose my faculties of speech, but it wasn’t bad enough that I had to use sign language to speak during MTP (go figure the acronym) after school.

It was an interesting experience, though it took rather long. I saw the last rays of sunlight peeking into the classroom, like a shy girl who wanted to avoid making a presence. It crawled slowly, leaving a tail that grew longer and longer the further it went, as if there was an invisible finishing line just ahead. But it never quite got there, rapidly fading away; its time is up.

The whole classroom was set up like a clinic, except that I didn’t dispense medicine, but assurances, advice and answers. I never went to such sessions when I was in school so this was my first time, and I appreciated the interaction, which revealed to me some unknowing facts that would aid in my teaching.

Anyway, it’s the holidays so I should take a good break and nurse my throat.

P/S: 150 days!