Papers=Evil

Man, being a teacher is fun, if you can survive the paperwork. I have tons of tests to check and record. Not that I'm coplainign of course. At least I'm checking papers that directly relate to my training as a lit major, not some obscure medical report or such. I actually feel at home.

But, the work is a lot more hectic than I realized. Plus, here're some observations that I had when checking (and teaching in general):

1) I tend to give lower marks to the first few papers I check compared to the later ones.

2) I also give more comments to the first few papers I check.

3) Never put off paperwork for the next day. It piles up like hell.

4) Salabat is your friend after a long day of modulating your voice (i.e. screaming every five seconds).

5) The noisiest class also has the brightest mind.

6) Quiet classes are easy to manage, but don't count on tem to be innovative.

7) Peer evaluations should be done in groups. You could do them individually if you don't mind checking 120+ evaluation sheets a day. :P

8) Never tell your students about your love life--especially when you don't have one. >:)

9) Your colleague is more perverted than your students >:) >:)

10) The faculty is just like a classroom, only there's no one around to discipline everyone. It's just as rowdy, rambunctious, and noisy--especially during breaks.

-and--

11) Teachers have even more aliases for their students than students have aliases for their teachers. >:)

Ok. So I'm Old.

Turned 22 today. Yep, it's my birthday. And no, don't bother greeting. By the time you read this it'll likely be the 21st anyway--too late to even bother. Besides I don't want to remember how old I am :P

Instead, let me tell you how my week has been and probably will be. For one, a good half of the High School population is gone to Student seminars, one in Bicol and another in Subic. that means that basically, besides catching up on old peperwork and teaching the occassional fourth-year high school class, I'm not really up to much. Well, I did treat the faculty room out this lunch time to some North Park noodles and fried rice. But after that it's a bit dull. The fact that the faculty room is only half-full doesn't help either. Nearly all the teachers are out as well.

So, it's been getting rather lonely. Lonely in the sense that I have to stop myself from txting people and idling out because I know that: a) they're probably very, very busy and would just be absolutely pissed off at my texts, or b) won't reply anyway because they're either asleep, in class, or bumming around. That's understandable, I'm not very responsive to text messages myself, and I have more hell days than easy days. So, I amused myself by checking papers and reading up on my resource materials. But considering that 60% of my kids aren't around, it did get kinda dull. Not that I'm complaining, next week'll be hell since I'll have to rush lessons. Crap, crap, crap!!! I'm at the calm before the storm.

Anyway, on other issues, it seems that no one's biting my dinner-out offer this Saturday--and if that's the case, good for my wallet. Anyway, it's really your call (SWC dudes and DLSU peeps). If it's really inconvenient, there are other days out there. I'll understand perfectly. I just want to be told by at least tomorrow if I'll have to rearrange things. Txt me, or use my chatterbox. Don't mind the spammer, that's just me keeping the chatterbox from expiring.

So, that's more or less it. Good luck with work, all you guys. Take care, and don't get in trouble.

I'm Old

Short update today. I'm turning 22 very soon, so that means that I'm becoming a very old person. Anyway, that's not important. I just want everyone to know that I'm perfectly fine as it is right now.

And on the work front, the little imps are out for their student seminar. The seven who did not attend are hardly causing me headaches, so my stress level is a bit low. All I have to handle are the seniors, and they are very manageable. We take up the Mahabharata tomorrow.

That's all. Signing out.

What Else Has Sensei Been Up To?

Yo. It's been some time since the last update. What has the sensei been up to? Well a couple of things actually:

1) Preparing lessons and revising my previous lessons for use next year. Hey, I plan to make this my career.

2) Researching info on the following upcoming videogame releases:

->King of Fighters XI. My favorite 2D fighting game has a sequel due anytime this fall. The game has received a lot of flak for the roster shakeup it received, but as long as my 3 characters are in it, I'm cool with it all. Too bad Robert got cut though.

->Soul Calibur 3. I'm looking forward this for one thing: the return of Li Long. It's about time someone showed Maxi how to use nunchuks correctly. Oh, and he's not the only returning talent. We also get Sophitia, Hwang, Seung Mina, and Rock. that means that we can now recreate the entire original Soul Edge roster.

->Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow. The previous game, Aria of Sorrow is my favorite GBA game of all time. In it, you played the second coming of Dracula, king of demons. The twist was that you had to struggle to make sure that you would not become evil like your predecessor. Depending on how you play, you could become the second demon king or you could resume life as a regular 19-year-old student--albeit with the power to devour souls.

This game picks up a year later. In this new one you again play the same character as he fights a band of cultists who will stop at nothing to make sure that you become Dracula--either that or they'll kill you and find someone else to do it. Too bad it's only for Nintendo DS. I gotta buy one I guess.

-> Neo Geo Battle Coliseum. SNK's second dream match series combines characters from Samurai Shodown, World Heroes, Gangan, King of Fighters, Metal Slug, Buriki One, Art of Fighting, Fatal Fury, Athena, Kizuna Encounter, and Last Blade into one big fighting game release. Can't wait for the console ports to come in.

3) Trying to memorize my students' names.

4) Trying to get used to the weird clutch on our pickup--the same one I bashed our garage door with.

5) Trying to get more sleep. I don't want to write about last Saturday (because I've been living on coffee since then and haven't really been thinking straight), but you can read about it here if you want. Check the Monday entry.

So, that's it. Oh, my Birthday is next Tuesday. I want to treat the DLSU and SWC crowd out on the 17th if possible, kahit na mag-tripping lang tayo sa Westgate malapit sa Festi tapos kaunting beer sa San Mig. Oh well.

Onizuka had it easy...

Beileve it or not, i think I just met the real-life grade 9, class 4. For the uninitiated in anime, grade 9 class 4 is the "rehab" class in the anime GTO. Rehab because all the delinquents happened to be in that class.

Well, on day one of formal lessons I already caught them cheating during my activity. They had one students bug me constantly while they got a runner to scamper off to the library and scope out the answers. How'd I know? Here:

1) They completed in 30 mins an activity the other two sections (the other two "cooperative" classes) needed a period extension for.

2) They were constantly asking to be sent to the bathroom--each time I would set my sights on the door.

3) I confronted them straight about it, then they dared me to produce my evidence instead of cleanly denying it. Their denial was obviously the denial of a guilty party. Defensive all the way, and obscuring the truth. Demanding me to produce evidence, trying to catch me on technicalities--not substance. I don't do technicalities.

So tomorrow, I'm giving grade 9, class 4 hell. A five-page, single spaced essay, back to back on a complicated short story. I'm not mad. I'm just going to discipline them.

Dine n' Dash? Almost...

Last Saturday, I spent my last weekend as a free-spirited, carefree young man watching the anime film festival in SM Megamall with my anime-watching pals in the SWC. Well worth the time it was. For 90 bucks, we got to watch two award-winning anime: Steamboy and Appleseed. both of them dabble into sci-fi. The former is about a boy who hold the key to a near-limitless source of steam energy (because in their world they haven't developed gasoline engines). The latter is a typical utopia turned bad story--full of action, all in cel-shaded 3-D glory.

Ater watching these we decided to eat. However, in typical SWC fashion, we had no idea where to go. We spent the next half hour or so arguing over where to go next. The worst part is that we actually sat down already in Luk Yuen, but chickened out after seeing the menu and the prices. So we left the place as discreetly as we can--right after the waiter made adjustments to serve us. We finally decided then to eat in SuperBowl.

After that, I went hme then planned my lesson for my sons. By that, I mean my students. I was lucky enough to have an ex-lit major and classmate be online in YM at that time so I got a lot of help. After that, I played a round or two of Front Mission 4 (my favorite RPG as of the moment) then went to sleep.

So, that's what the new sensei was up to last weekend. This week I take over the literature classes of the sophomores. Wish me luck--these dudes lynched me this afternoon. I see that they were just trying to be sweet, but still, it gotout of hand. Still, it was fun.

Legal Requirements

Wow. I'm gonna be handling a class as early as next week, and already I've been observing classes left and right. Some classes were excellent. Others were so rowdy that Onizuka's class seems tame by comparison. Anyhow, believe it or not those were not my primary concerns. Rather, I was working instead on my legal forms needed to prove my worth to be a prof. In particular I'm talking about my Social Security Number (SSS), Tax Identification Number (TIN), and NBI Clearance. Here's what each paper is for:

1) TIN- The government's dirty little numeric indicator by which they cheat you of your hard-earned cash by means of income tax. The school will do this for me once I'm hired.

2) NBI Clearance- A sheet of paper proving that one hasn't robbed, raped, maimed, or murdered anyone. Important because no one wants to hire a serial killer. Worthless because fixers can easily get you one, or you can get one from Recto. Great, now I know that in spite of my criminally insane mind, I haven't killed anyone.

3) SSS Number- Your social security number, allows you to get employee benefits and such if your employer doesn't fire you before your probation is over. Also another way by which government cheats you of your hard-earned cash. Not too useful since the SSS itself is woefully underfunded and corrupt as hell.

Anyway, now that I have everything save the TIN, I'm ready to begin work in earnest. Day One: next Monday, September 5. Better hope those kids don't know that my birthday is on the 20th...