Exam time

Examination time: I'm sure every one of us have dreaded this moment at some point of our lives. But along with this dread lives many other moments that we seldom fail to register because we are so tightened by the grip of dread for exams. 

Well! Now I'm an adult and a teacher for that matter, people might think I've lost that dread for exams. But, to be candid I dread the exam time more than I used to as a student myself. 

Before, as a young student, my only fear was just for one individual self. But, now every exam time I ve to live the fear for my daughter( she won't worry a bit about her exams and immerse herself in her games. Yes! even during exam time). 

To add to it, looking around hundred plus of my students whose successes and failures reflect a large part of my own state as a teacher, I dread examination time with a multitude of hundred fold. 

Take away these larger fears and coming to my selfish reasons to dread exam time is the invigilation duty hours. I guess being silent for more than two hours at a stretch is some kind of a punishment. That is when weird thoughts jump into my brain, jostling with the silence of the room and almost bursting my very sanity. 

Another big reason I detest the exam time is because it brings out the cruel crafty side of our otherwise happily -playing, innocent students. 

The first kind of behavioral change I loath is the usage of the daily greeting  culture. Students who never even caste a second glance at you would come running down from the first floor verandah just to say," good morning madam." ofcourse we do teach them to conduct this daily ritual but where is the sincerity when the over zealous students pounce on you with these greetings only during the exam time?

The other reason is the fact thatfew students have to resort to malpractices simply because their brain won't accommodate the information required to pass the examination.  This practice, if successful on the part of the student,is a deliberate bane on those who have sincerely prepared for their exams. 
And if that student is caught, it is a sad fact that the student loses one solid year of schooling. 
Either ways, the outcome is unpleasant and the direct repercussion falls on the young minds whose sentiments are then geared towards negativity. 

So, at the end I am left pondering " do I really detest exam time so much?" Well, all I can do is shrug my shoulders, pick up the bundle of papers and walk into the exam hall. 

My very English daughter

Ask my four year old daughter, "are you sharchokpa or lhotsampa?" and without waiting for you to even complete your question, she would reply,"I am English."
Sometimes, seeing the way she forces English language and styles into her daily life, I can't help thinking," she must have been a chilip in her previous life. "
 She really tries her best to communicate in English all the time. For a little girl who is yet to start her formal schooling, she is doing too good with the language. But because she doesn't have any body teaching her the language and its grammar, there are errors and some of them are so cute, especially the way she uses them that I can't help but put them in writing so that I don't lose them when she eventually learns the correct version of all the following words:
1. Calace: never heard of this word? If you are in conversation with my daughter you would hear this word used atleast ten times in a minute's time. She likes to believe that she is a princess ( yes! A Disney princess) and she lives in a ' calace'. So, obviously this word is a combination of 'palace' and 'castle'. 

2. Brone: if she is angry with you for whatever the reason, prepare to get this line," you don't have Brone?" actually she means to say "brain". ;)

3. Nember- no, no, I ain't talking about member here. But every time she wants to remind me of something she approaches me with her cute smile and says," nember? You told me I can eat ice cream?" ah! You are getting smart with my daughter's vocabulary if you heard " remember" shrieking in your brain. The way her pink tongue slurs with this 'nember' word, I wish it was not 'remember' at all. 

4. Buyed: as it is evident, here comes the common error most of the students in my class make too. Children feel that all past tense ends in -ed but my daughter who knows nothing about past or present tense also uses words with -ed very conveniently. For instance, she would say," mama buyed this book for me." or " I thoughted you will take me with you. " so, like wise there are many words she suffixes with -ed. 

5. Cooker- aww! This is the cutest compliment she gives me whenever I make any dishes for them. While her Ana gulps down the dishes greedily, my lil girl stops to tell me," mama you are a great cooker!" ain't that kinda cute?
Time permitting I can go on and on with the list of words in English my daughter uses, but bell has rung and I have to go to class now. ;).