Volcano & Mr Long

On Monday evening, whilst giving WY his Spelling & Dication test, I went through his school-assigned homework. There was only a CL assignment in the 作业本子.

When I flipped to the assignment, I got a nasty shock! Parts of it were not completed and the entire 理解问答 had been left undone! And the assignment has already been marked by the teacher!!

Of course, there were multiple red-ink question marks on the uncompleted pages, and all these culminated with this remark: 没有完成作业！！

So I asked WY why this happened. He claimed that the assignment was done as an impromptu assignment in class and the students had to complete it during lesson time and there & then hand up to the teacher. He explained that he missed out the 理解问答 because he had 'forgotten' about it.

So, I asked further - if it were really as he had described, then wouldn't he have finished all the other parts well ahead of his classmates? And if so, how was it possible that he had 'forgotten' the 理解问答 completely?

He could not explain. Then he merely took a pen from the pen-stand and shoved it to me, saying that the teacher's instruction to him was that I must sign against the 没有完成作业！！ remark.

I sensed that something was not quite right. So I pressed on with my questions. Finally, he confessed that the assignment was supposed to have been done at home (and not during lesson time as he 1st claimed just moments ago) some time last week.

Now, my agreement with WY has always been that he is to note in his handbook all the homework which the school teachers assign each day, so that I know what homework I need to go through after dinner and so that I can remind him to do them if he has forgotten about them. And if he fails to note his homework in the handbook, he will be punished.

WY is well aware of his responsibility to note his homework. He has had privileges such as GB time and computer time withdrawn several times previously because he had failed to note his homework in his handbook.

So when WY finally confessed that he had not noted this CL assignment in his handbook, I was beginning to feel very upset. Blood already started to boil....

Then, I asked him quite sternly, "On which day was this supposed to have been done?" "I don't know," came his hesitant reply.

After some more probing, he eventually said, "I think it was some time last week, but I don't remember."

At this point, I could not contain my anger anymore. Why is he always telling me that he cannot remember this or that?!?!?!!!!!! Is it really so difficult to just jot down in the handbook when the work is assigned by the teacher???!!?



And so, I grabbed Mr Long and have him stand in front of the piano with his arms raised and *WHACK* went Mr Long landing on his buttocks! Of course that sent WY wincing in pain.

A total of 3 strokes were given - one for not completing his work, one for not remembering to note the homework and one for not even remembering when it had been assigned.

Needless to say, tears began to flow when Mr Long was dropped. The crying was muffled as he tried to rub off the pain on his buttocks with his palm.

Then, I also broke down myself because I really felt so frustrated and let down. Whatever happened to his promises to improve himself and to make sure he will do a better job especially for CL?! Just what is wrong with WY?! What is wrong?!?????

It has been barely a week since the CL teacher called to discuss how WY must buck up on his CL. It has also been barely a week since WY had had to write that additional 周记 (as 'punishment' meted out by the CL teacher for failing to do his CL homework) setting out how he plans to improve his CL etc.

HOW could this happen again?! How could it be that the teacher has had to pen a 没有完成作业！！ remark in his 作业本子?!!!! Just how could it be?!!!

The more I thought about this, the more helpless I felt, the louder I wailed.........

****************************

After a good half hour or so, I sat myself and the weeping WY down on the floor.

I: WY, can you try to think through carefully now - when was the assignment given out? Was it on Wednesday last week?

WY (after pausing for several seconds): I think so. I missed the CL lesson that day, I think.

I: Yes, you did. You went for your piano exam that morning, remember? But I reminded you to find out from your classmates the homework that you need to do for the lessons which you missed!

WY: Yes, I did ask my friend. He only said there was the Moral Ed homework plus something else. Not this CL assignment.

I: It is your responsibility to go through each lesson which you missed and find out specifically what work needs to be done. It is your job to go find out accurately! The information will not come to you automatically, one!

Then WY went on to explain how he had found out about the CL assignment only last Thursday when another classmate of his sought his help to hand up that classmate's 作业本子 to the CL teacher because that classmate had to miss the CL class. And when WY realised that this assignment needed to be done, he quickly took out his own 作业本子 and hurriedly tried to finish the work. But alas, there wasn't enough time and so only parts of the assignment were done and he handed both copies of 作业本子 hastily to the CL teacher.

I told WY that if that was what happened, then he ought to have explained to the teacher and ask for more time to complete the work properly. Or, if he didn't do that, he should have explained to the teacher when the teacher returned the 作业本子 back to him after marking it. Then, the teacher would not have noted the 没有完成作业！！ remark in it and demanded that I sign against this remark!

Sigh.... Anyway, I made WY write a note to the teacher to explain what had happened, which he did after all our crying and sobbing subsided. There were several 错字 in the note, but I left them as they were.

Also, I asked WY why he seems very distracted in class and what is causing him to lose concentration. He said that sometimes, his classmates are very noisy and so he cannot focus on the lessons. The noise level also causes him to miss the teachers' instructions at times.

For this, we agreed that we will seek the form teacher's help to let WY sit closer to the front of the class at least for the time being. If WY is seated further away from the more rowdy children at the back of the class, perhaps it will help.

Then I asked WY what he thinks about in class - his teachers' feedback has always been that WY's mind seems to be 'wandering off' every now and then. WY said that he is sometimes thinking about many things. For example, in the school, it is now time for electing the Head Prefect. It is compulsory for all P4 students to vote for one out of 8 candidates.

During the hastings, all the 8 candidates claim that they will accomplish this and that for the school and for the students etc, so WY doesn't really know how he should go about deciding who to vote for!!!! And so, he thinks and ponders over this......

Ha?! Sigh...... I told WY that he can discuss such things with his friends and teachers in school. But if there is no one who will discuss this with him (his form teacher has commented that unlike some other children, WY does not seem to have any 'specially close' best friend although he is generally ok with everybody), then he can always come talk to R or me when he comes home. No need to spend time and energy thinking and thinking about such things in class! This, he agrees and promises to do.

I also told WY that he must learn to 'be smarter' and learn to take charge of his own stuff, lessons and all. He must 'unlock' his intelligence and talents by opening his ears, eyes and mouth. Always be alert; listen and watch what is going on in class. Ask and ask more questions if in doubt! That he cannot keep depending on me to remind him this and that, or to settle everything for him all the time.....

Sigh... and more sighs..................

***********************

On Tuesday morning, I spoke to both the CL teacher and form teacher. Both were given a brief account of what had happened last night, including my invitation of Mr Long.

The CL teacher agrees that if the assignment had been missed out because WY had missed the lesson last Wednesday, then she would have allowed him more time to complete the work. She explained that her practice is to write on the whiteboard the work which she assigns to the class. She promises to look out for WY more and remind him to have these noted in his handbook.

The form teacher was very moved when she heard how WY gives much of his time thinking over how he should go about deciding on his vote for the Head Prefect. She commented that it is a good thing that WY takes such school-based matters seriously, and this is so unlike most of the other children who just adopt the kind of "can't care less" attitude. She thinks WY deserves to be complimented for this.

But she agrees that we should point out to WY that such things is not as important as his class work and so he should learn to prioritise these. She promises to look into how arrangements in class can be made to have WY sit nearer to the front of the class. She explained that there are now 3 girls seated at the back of the class who are rather chatty and indeed, these girls do sometimes get very excited and noisy when they start to discuss during group-work time. She will see how the situation can be improved.