The composition my students had written last term was a disaster. Horrendous. So, I figured out that I would need to teach them how to write a decent essay - one paragraph at a time.

This is how the Primary School Leaving Examination (English) works. Candidates are given three pictures and expected to select one picture and write a narrative that not only brings out the essence of the picture, but also answers a prompt.

Can you imagine how difficult this will be for weak writers? They not only have to craft their story around a picture, but make sure it fits the chosen theme. Last year's topic was Trying Something New. Seemingly simple, but students had to explain why they chose a particular activity for the first time.

The following pictures were taken from a school's recent preliminary paper. A tuition teacher by the name of sowingseedz compiled the topics from various schools in Singapore. Yes, we take our education seriously here.

I happened to know of a video that depicted a Maths teacher expressing his dismay for his students' lackluster performance for their Maths mock exam. I crafted my introduction before I stepped into the classroom.

"Aiyo, they made so many careless mistakes!" I groaned. My students had just sat for their mock exam. To my horror, they had performed poorly because I had to mark many crosses on their papers. My heart sank like a ton of bricks. I had a serious problem on my hands. I would have to try every possible way to help my students pass the official examinations in a month’s time.

"Aiyo, they made so many careless mistakes!" I groaned, frowning deeply in frustration. My students had just sat for their mock exam. To my horror, they had performed poorly because had to mark many crosses on their papers. My heart sank like a ton of bricks. I had a serious problem on my hands. My shoulders sagged as I dreaded having to find ways to help my students pass the official examinations in a month’s time. I tried to steady my furiously pounding heart.

I had to take into account that some of my students are more competent writers, so I needed to stretch them to achieve the higher bands of the marking criteria. That is why I inputted more Show, Not Tell phrases.

Here's the thing about teaching. Since I wanted to be interactive and elicit responses from my students, the introduction I wrote during my actual lesson deviated from the one I had prepared in advance. But I guess all is good. All roads lead to Rome.

Since I had demonstrated how to write an introduction, I got them to craft their original introduction based on the storyline and helping words that I painstakingly curated for them.

I am pleased with some of their efforts. I think they might just pick up the ropes of writing a solid narrative.

“Oh no! I’m going to fail!” I sighed in dismay. My heart was pumping really fast.
“I’ll never pass the exam!” I sighed loudly as the dim light above me flickered slightly. “What am I going to do?! I only have a week left!” I exclaimed. My heart pumped so fast that I sweated, my T-shirt soaked to the skin. Sweat was dripping down my forehead. I pulled my hair in frustration. I kept scratching my head as the piles of paper towered over me. I hung my head low in front of my study table. I freaked out, sweating profusely. My heart sank deeper, like an endless ocean, as only fifteen days remained before the end-of-year exams. My heart sank as I felt exhausted. To my dismay, I could not catch up with my work. To my dismay, I rummaged through my old textbooks. To my dismay, I could not remember my concepts. To my regret, I had not decided to study earlier.

Sometimes, I do love teaching. Haha.