T1Essay " Are School Examinations Necessary? "
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Ah, examinations -- the source of woe and laments of the schooling populace around the globe. It includes almost unbearably heavy bouts of stress, especially within our contemporary rat-racing society where a respite is more fantasy than reality, unnecessary revision for an otherwise well-learnt topic and later, when the results are released, may cause the lowering of self-esteem should it not be up to par. And now, the main question: if there are so many cons, why do we bother with this sort of half-yearly assessment and put this useless burden of stress on our students?
We have the consider all points, and looking at it from another angle provides fresh insight. For one, the main complaint against examinations is generally stress. However, when you compare those complaints to the real workplace that awaits them after schooling, these complaints are but petty affairs. Stress is everywhere. By learning to cope with, and not succumb to, this neutral factor, which is both boon and bane, we can push otherwise meagre, commonplace results beyond their boundaries.Which brings us back to school examinations, where the plaintiff's excuse is no longer that much of a viable point. A good school is one that can suitably mimic a workplace, encouraging positive competition and the leaving of his safety zone to achieve his potential. To rid the academic regime of such an important factor is impractical and also seems to throw favour at breeding complacency, which may have undesirable effects when they leave the safety of the school and step out into the cruelly practical society in the future.
Next, to further bolster the importance of having examinations, we have to consider what is it that we are typing into the millions of report cards and progress reports around the world. These multitudes of standardised letters are not random gibberish: any parent would know that this is a complete record of his or her child's standard in school, in the class, even in the nation. The abolishment of examinations provide no other feasible feasible method to track a student's understanding of a subject or topic. While many people have suggested the regular checks of homework, or perhaps a test the would be held after every chapter, they forget: when it all boils down it is still in essence an examination, the submission of student's applied knowledge to scrutiny and nit-picking. In fact, if we were to truly ensure that every student knows his or her work, we would probably need a teacher to each student on a one to one proportion, but even then, without a short text, how can we really be sure?
I am of the opinion that while play can be an important factor, work is of at least equal importance. all work and no play can make Jack a dull boy, but what about all play and no work? If a student has been so fortunate to play and frolic his way through the year, an examination can be a good way to sober up and start putting in his very best or regret it later. As mentioned earlier, a good school mimics a typical workplace and would thus adequately prepare a student for his subsequent chosen career. As most people can tell you, work is not called play for a reason, and not everyone is lucky enough to work at something that he loves. An examination would play the part of the antagonist in a the surrealistic Wonderland of a perfect fun-filled school life, keeping students grounded and practical as they would likely need to be in the future.
Then does that mean that there is no hope, no chance of a respite for us all? cry the distraught, school-going populace. In my opinion, not really. Examinations are important, but they are not everything one has in life. It is a good assessment, but it is not infallible. This regime is only a watered-down version of the adult's everyday work pressure, the constant criticisms and picking apart of each other's work, but it, on its part, works quite well and up to par. I strongly insist upon the importance of examinations, and that they not be abolished. But I also further insist that students, instead of being miserable and woebegone should take up the challenge and meet it head on like how we are taught to.
(725 words)
posted at 9:29 PM
1 comments
T1W2 " Dictionary Meanings "
Sunday, January 18, 2009
"Flamboyance," Xenia read, loudly, intending very much to be as ostentatious as she possibly could, "strikingly bold or brilliant; showy. Timorous, full of fear; fearful. Cow--"
He had turned his head, and he was looking about confused, though the glance he sent her way was more than a little suspicious. Xenia grinned to herself, hiding her face behind her thick sixth revision of Oxford's dictionary as she cackled to herself mentally. "Coward, a person who lacks courage in facing danger, difficulty, opposition, pain and the ilk; a timid or easily intimidated person..." With a feigned fortuitous musing, she spoke to her dictionary as loudly as she could. "Hmm, that sounds really familiar..." Carelessly, she twiddled her dyed silver hair around her free hand, twisting it into a tight rope before letting it drop and picking up a new lock. "Idiot, a person of the lowest order in a former classification of mental retardation, having a mental age of less than three years old and an intelligence quotient under 25. Well, I never knew that! Poor fellow..." she cast a meaningful glance over the top of her book at her target, who glanced up to glare in her direction. But she resumed, as jauntily as ever.
"Retard, a person who is stupid, obtuse, or ineffective in some way-- Oh hello!"
The dictionary was unceremoniously whipped away from her left hand, to reveal the irritated expression on the face of her classmate. He sniffed as he closed the dictionary with a sharp snap and set it in front of her. "Feigning stupid now, should've expected it to be you. Do you know what a library is for?"
Pursing her lips, Xenia shook her head, "Poor poor, Iriel! Do you want me to explain it word for word to you? I have that book exactly for that! It's called a dictionary, d-i-c-t-i--"
"I know what a dictionary is!" Iriel exclaimed, before hastily looking around to make sure nobody heard, "What are you doing here? You were expelled ages ago."
Xenia picked up her bag and rummaged through it, picking out a laminated piece of plastic, "Visitor's pass," she offered, like it explained everything. "More importantly, I was supposed to settle the library fines and return the books from last last month. It's not fair since I was banned from school for that span of ti--"
"Iriel, the teacher's calling for you," interrupted another girl as she brushed past the table, a stack of books tucked safely in her folded arms.
The addressed response was immediate: he straightened, pushing the dictionary back towards the delinquent with an exaggerated sniff. "Go read your dictionary," he hastily replied, distractedly peering down the aisle where the interruption had came from. Xenia had only blinked at him, accepting the dictionary with a mildly confused look at the sudden, imminent departure.
"Amazing glasses, by the way," he added as he jogged off, "I'll get back to you."
Taking off her thin wire-frame spectacles, she frowned at them for an extended period of time before tilting them to check the glass for scratches. "But I chose them because they were boring!"
posted at 12:40 AM
3 comments
T1W1 "Meet Xenia"
Friday, January 16, 2009
Meet Xenia, and be sure to take a good hard look and remember her.
Why? Well, because you're going to see a lot of her from now on. Happy?
To begin with, her personality: she's a fine student, but she's also the infamous delinquent. She's zealous and rash, without a care for the bystander, or criticism. She lives her life one day at a time, and places sanguine faith on unfounded conjectures and impossibilities, and is the favourite topic for the lurid gossip column on the school newsletter when they haven't anything else to report.
Now down we have a general idea of her personality - if you're thinking along the lines of "idiot", "nerd" and "attention-seeker" you're almost there - let's take a good look at her appearance. It's easy enough, and one is sure to be able to recognise her without going in depth into how her nose is this high, and how her almond-shaped eyes are exactly at the third quarter of her face from the bottom. All one actually needs to know is:
a) she's really tanned
b) she has silver hair
c) she has gold eyes
And someone spits out coffee in indignation. "What?" exclaims the person who has just lost a perfectly good mouthful of coffee, "isn't this Xenia person a student? In modern context?" Well, yes. But she's also a delinquent. And, it was her appearance that got her kicked out of school anyway. Not her grades, not her attitude, not her behaviour; just her hair, her contacts and glasses, her uniform, it was her appearance that got her kicked out. She wasn't a straight A student, but she was a student who would pass everything without a single C. She was attentive in class and answered questions promptly. She would never dare to talk back at the teacher, but she would refuse to back down when it came down to attire. Xenia Hui, which was her full name, was a regular chinese girl, but one with a stubborn streak that would rival a mule's.
A firm believer in creative expression, Xenia had dressed as she wished in her uniform. The teacher had been tolerant with her when she appeared in school with her skirt at least three inches above her knee, and when she came to school with her uniform shirt altered so much it was almost unrecognizable save the school crest. The teacher had allowed her to go by, giving her detention for a week, or two, or four, making her write lines, pay a visit to the school's discipline master for a dressing down... Sadly, it was all fruitless. Thus, when she came skipping into the classroom with her hair unmistakenably dyed bright silver, it was to nobody's surprise that the phlegmatic teacher snapped and escorted the little delinquent all the way to the discipline master's, who wearily pulled out her student offence file and sent her on suspension.
A month later, she was expelled.
And she took up wearing spectacles despite her 20/20 vision.
It was time for a little revision on her life from then on.
posted at 4:50 AM
0 comments
she is the one and only Julian ;D
said...
dInG yI said...
1 Comments:
simple to understand ;D make sure you maintain your standard :D and write more about xenia <3
January 28, 2009 at 5:30 AM
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]