My class wrote pretty decent responses to my inaugural journal. I even managed to pick up four good words that they had used: lethargic, motivated, mentality, and athlete.

Here’s me continuing the good practice this week:

Dear 1S7,

Did you know that I used to teach General Paper at a junior college? That’s atas (high-level) English I taught 17-and-18-year-old teenagers.

However, although I teach functional English at NorthLight, I never miss my General Paper days. That’s because I have learnt about how beautiful and diverse human brains are.

I don’t know how you remember stuff, but when I hear a word I want to learn, I will get someone to write it down. My form class, 1S6, taught me the Malay phrase for ‘fat leg’: ‘kaki gemok’. Once I figured out the spelling and wrote it down, I remembered it. Now, I use it all the time. ‘Kaki gemok’ has become an inside joke.

NorthLight students are different from me. Some of you are very talented at drawing, so I got students to make intriguing posters to help them learn spelling. Others are great at listening. They just need to hear a word once or twice and then, they will remember it. Because I teach students with dyslexia, I gained the opportunity to learn how words are formed. I never realised that English has so many interesting patterns. My teachers used to just get us to memorise stuff. Knowing that English is so structured makes me love teaching more. I feel like a detective trying to uncover the great mysteries of English. I never fail to be excited.

So, I love English more and more. How about you? What is your passion? What do you love to do? Do you hope to turn your passion into your job in the future? Let me know!

Love, Sensei

Sending some happy sats to @Undisciplined because he made a comment about how brains are weird. 🧠