Happiness Journal 1/11/25
During my work review last year, I happened to mention my staunch belief in 死背 (rote memorisation). In a rare moment of vulnerability, my Reporting Officer shed her professional demeanour and cautioned me against using a term that carries negative connotations. No chance would I be earmarked for higher positions if I keep spouting such beliefs.
Ironically, one year later, I’m feeding off the adrenaline from getting my 11-year-olds to memorise their composition ending. They had just finished their year-end exams, and while I’m colossally proud of their efforts, their writing has accelerated me into PANIC! FIGHT! mode. Some of their essays were so heartbreakingly amateurish and riddled with errors that I could have wept.
But Sensei is not overwhelmed.
I spent this week teaching them to memorise my curated conclusion:
In the end, I learnt an important lesson. [Insert a proverb.] I resolved to [concentrate in class] instead of [playing the fool] in the future.
You might think that getting students to regurgitate is a piece of cake. No, it requires intentional effort on my part. I parked one girl at the front to read aloud my conclusion while going around the classroom to check that everyone knew how to spell certain words.
Important. Resolved. Future.
This is the stark reality of a classroom teacher teaching a class of students with diverse abilities and needs. To help the weakest ones, he needs to ensure that they know their spelling. His only hope is to lift the tide and raise their baseline level so that the strongest ones can access more sophisticated forms of writing.
Luckily though, a brainwave hit me this morning. I could elevate my juvenile line to:
In the end, I learnt an invaluable and important lesson.
The weakest ones have 9 months to learn and internalise the spelling of ‘invaluable’.
Everyone will score brownie points for knowing how to use ‘invaluable’.
AL1 Conclusion FTW! Slay!
Which explains why I am feeling this rush of adrenaline course through my veins. Even if the odds are stacked against them (and Sensei), he tries valiantly to help them prevail over the seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
Honestly, my steadfast belief in 死背 has been deepened this year.