The Online Mr. Sim

Time really does fly, doesn’t it? It’s been two whole weeks since I last posted, and we’re already stepping into Week 4.

In the time that has passed, I’ve had the chance to see some of my students working on their blogs and their wikispaces. Although it’s unfamiliar territory for us all, I think it’s gotten some pretty interesting and encouraging results. Some of the blogs are really well done, and although the wikispaces are still not quite up to scratch, I’m sure things will improve once I pass everyone the rubrics and recommendations I have spent some time writing up.

Meanwhile, I hope 2007’s been kind to you all so far. Keep on posting!

Phew, just spent half the day figuring out how to best exploit Wikispace as a place for us all to learn and play. Go check it out now and see if you like the design.

Pretty nice to see everyone back in school today, especially during the Crossing Over Ceremony. Now I’m looking forward to meeting my Sec 3 Express Lit class for the first time. Wonder if everyone’s started reading Fahrenheit 451 already …

M y first impressions of the book: it’s clearly a classic, and an important text. I share its main concerns: that reading is an important activity that mustn’t be overlooked. It can be difficult to read at times, especially when Bradbury barrages the reader with wave after wave of metaphors, similes and allusions, but all that’s done with a clear purpose in mind.

But the great thing about good literature is you can’t give a text a label or rating until you’ve studied it closely. New things keep popping up all the time when you re-read the text. (Now that’s as obvious a hint as can be.) That’s why I’m going to wait till later in the term to say anything more conclusive about this novel. Stay tuned folks!

Hi guys, welcome to my portal. I just signed up to test whether it’s useful as something we can adapt to the work we do in school. Check back often to see what else I’ve come up with (if indeed it turns out to be good).

It’s the last day of the holidays for all of us, and I can feel the anxiety of students and teachers all over Singapore. A full year of surprises (some pleasant, others not-so-pleasant) awaits us all, so let’s get ready to rumble! At this moment all I can think of to encourage myself and everyone else is this poem, called “Invictus”:

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bloodgeonings of chance
My head is bloody but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate
I am the captain of my soul.

It’s one of my favourite poems of all time; it always makes me feel somewhat cheered up. See you guys in school!