May 3 – 9, 2010: A Lesson or Two

What do you know..... We would be celebrating our monthsary in the music site we put up.  Quite a feat considering what we went through the last 30 days.  Meant just to be a site where we, the boisterous friends, can post songs and freely express ourselves, the site now boasts of 380 subscribers in just a month's time. A far cry from the original site we used to hang out with but far from our expectations too.  Unlike in the old site, the interaction of tuners in the site is spontaneous and natural.  There is no need to be fancy as one can be his or herself.  It's easy to become friends.  That is why the hours where we usually converged have to be manned because I think that the friends who go to the site on those times expect some kind of an interaction.  In fact, we have become friends with a number of them, formerly just Facebook acquaintances.  Some of the subscribers are our real life friends, many of whom are contented being lurkers and stalkers.  The new friends are the ones we interact with often.

I was getting into the hang of things at the site. We have settled into a relatively comfortable pace especially with two additional administrators of the site. We agreed on a sked that would fit everyone’s sked. But the worst has to happen to me this week.  We would have no internet connection in the office……. Oh no!!!!!!  While we have cope up with my occasional internet disruptions, to be totally disconnected is something I did not expect.  As the week progresses, I would learn that we have been removed from our connection from the building server.  That means we will be connected to the old server which blocks a number of applications including Facebook and other favorite applications...... sigh.  I was listless the whole week but what can I do but accept my fate.  That means we have to readjust the schedule again to reflect this latest development.

Being disconnected, however, enabled me to keep up with many of my pending tasks.  I updated my blog and even came up with a relevant election post.  I cleaned up my folders.  Most importantly, I was able to do school stuff which I have been putting off.  We just had our midterm examinations and it is the season for evaluation...... a season of grief for the students.  They are particularly worried about how they fared in my class because I am handling subjects that make their noses bleed according to the description of one student.  It's a combination of mathematics and quantitative analysis.

But I must do what I should do.  I did the grades as I would usually do..... grade all evaluation tools, plug these grades into my special excel file, work out the formula, and presto, I have my computations.  As usual, I would not finalize it until I sleep over it.  I was done by Thursday but since I would submit it on Friday when I have my class, I held printing the final grading sheet until before I was about to go to school.  It's not a pretty sight as two students failed in two subjects.  And I have to fail them for being remiss….. In the old schools where I taught, I have quite a reputation.  I once failed probably half of the class in one subject.  I have failed a number of graduating students which stalled the realization of their dreams.  I've managed to come alive out of a classroom after being stalked and threatened by a student I failed.  I withstood crying sessions from a student who wanted me to change her grade so she could graduate.  I don't want failing students but I think that failures have been put in there for the lessons it bring.  I got a very good explanation in the briefing that ED and I attended when she entered college a few years back.  A parent asked during the open forum why failures can still happen to students belonging to the cream of the crop.  The facilitator said that it is better that the students who would be doctors know how to deal with failures and frustrations now than when they are already practicing their profession. He added that not all patients will come out alive after getting treatment from doctors.  A doctor cannot come out wailing or emotional after a patient dies on his or her watch.  I think it makes sense.  Maybe, I should add that failures can teach us humility and persistence.  And it doesn't really matter if one fails for as long as he can rise above it........ cliche-ish but still so true any time of the day .............

After accomplishing everything I needed to do this week,  I am looking forward to another long weekend with the glee of a child............