Whatever people may say about the quality of our national songs, the liveliest Nat Day celebrations we have involve raucous, off-key, mass sing-alongs that bring out the spontaneity and randomness of the kids. Nice to see them all having some crazy fun together for a change.
Wednesday, August 07, 2013
Tuesday, August 06, 2013
Last-ditch effort
Annual meet-the-parents session. Used to be we would seek parental pressure as a final motivating force to get a slacking, underperforming kid pulled up by the bootstraps. At this late stage in the game, one last-ditch effort from all interested parties might make all the difference.
Current trends, however, have necessitated a new tack in the way we approach parents. The thing is for us now is to figure out what to with kids who do have a strong work ethic, but unsatisfactory results to show for it.
Interestingly, the parents are agreeing with me that their kids are overstressed, that they don't manage their time well enough, that they need to eat better and get more sleep. They recognize the need to work hard, but not to the point when it becomes counterproductive. Tired kids means their capacity to learn gets diminished; which results in poor grades; which adds pressure to perform; which begets frustrated, stressed-out, tired kids. A vicious cycle.
I suppose this new wrinkle to an age-old problem is somewhat easier to deal with. It's easier to redirect a body already in motion and make changes to a strategy that isn't working to one that does work, than to kickstart a body at rest with no strategy whatsoever.
Current trends, however, have necessitated a new tack in the way we approach parents. The thing is for us now is to figure out what to with kids who do have a strong work ethic, but unsatisfactory results to show for it.
Interestingly, the parents are agreeing with me that their kids are overstressed, that they don't manage their time well enough, that they need to eat better and get more sleep. They recognize the need to work hard, but not to the point when it becomes counterproductive. Tired kids means their capacity to learn gets diminished; which results in poor grades; which adds pressure to perform; which begets frustrated, stressed-out, tired kids. A vicious cycle.
I suppose this new wrinkle to an age-old problem is somewhat easier to deal with. It's easier to redirect a body already in motion and make changes to a strategy that isn't working to one that does work, than to kickstart a body at rest with no strategy whatsoever.
Monday, August 05, 2013
Chewed up
The only way Tasha can interact with the world is to chew on whatever strangeness she comes across. This piece of strangeness happens to be Mr Tabby's charging/data cable. I thought I'd put it out of her reach, but I guess I underestimated her determination to explore where no canine teeth have gone before.
Fortunately, despite the Tab being first generation, I could still find a replacement cable. Tasha, you owe me $18. X(
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